To be fair, you don’t exactly get to see what happens prior to the video starting, but even supposing that the kids were being a bunch of disrespectful hooligans prior to this I don’t think the cop’s behavior is justified in the least.

The best part is when the cop realizes at the end that there’s a camera on scene.  He starts telling the kid that he doesn’t want to be filmed, and then the footage cuts out.  But, really, cops have no right to ask you to stop filming them.  If anything, this situation proves exactly why cops should be video taped by citizens as much as possible.  Most people, if asked to choose between stories told by a skateboarding teenager and a law enforcement officer, would choose the cop.  But clearly it wasn’t the kids who were causing a scene this time around.

Nothing protects against corruption and abuse of power like transparency, and video tapes don’t lie.

The cop talks about the kids disrespecting him, his bad and his department but really all he’s doing with his blow hard attitude is ensuring that these kids never really respect a cop again.  I can bet that dealing with smart ass teenagers is no treat, but losing your cool like this (to the point where you manhandle a kid who is posing you no threat) is not only inappropriate, it’s ineffective.

What’s sad is that cops get away with this kind of behavior far more often than many of us would like to admit.  And that’s coming from a guy who grew up in a law enforcement family.  I hope this cop in particular is asked to find a new line of work.