- Dback139
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- Senior Legendary Member
I am a pharmaceutical scientist. I received my Masters degree in Pharmaceutics from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia in 2010, after working as a Pharmacist for 4 years. I currently work in King of Prussia, PA, and focus on the analytical chemistry of small molecule APIs. My clients include some of the most well known big pharma companies in the world.
I don't know if I missed it in the article or video, but why was the boy being asked to empty his pockets? I'm fairly certain that if the boy didn't do anything illegal in plain sight, he is not required to submit to a search (ie turning out his pockets), so there's that. He can be a nuisance, a right pain in the arse, but you can't just search someone because you don't like them.
Anyway, I think the proper way to deal with this would have been to detain the kid if he in fact was under suspicion of having committed a crime. Could have just cuffed the kid and then if he fought back or kicked, well then it's resisting arrest. When it comes down to it, what was the kid really going to do to the cops? They always have the power to be in control of the situation regardless of how the teen acted. I see no point in using intimidation for the officer to get what he wanted.
Let me just say that I'm attempting to be neutral with this. There are a lot of people who are very brazen with the police and do bend, but not break, the laws which probably do warrant some sort of justice or punishment. However, there's a lot of citizens that are law-abiding and still get harassed. I don't think what the officer did was necessarily wrong, but not knowing all the details, I think it could have been handled better.
EDIT: I have been asked to submit to a search before even when having done nothing wrong. I declined the search and the officer went on his way. A lot of people have actually chastised me saying that people like me shouldn't exercise my rights because if I had done nothing wrong, then there's no reason to avoid a search. However, I enjoy my rights and prefer them not to be violated. I tolerate, but do not like, positions of authority, but we each have the authority to defend ourselves legally.
[Edited on 11.26.2012 2:33 PM PST]