It doesn't matter who's at fault in reality, just what can be proven. I know we like to think that folks are innocent until proven guilty, but we know that this is not always the case. Yesterday, I was scheduled to tutor a student for two hours. I had the session scheduled for 6 days and called 2 hours earlier to confirm. When I got there, the students mom was not there. So, I can't go into the house. I can't tutor...I can't get paid. Now, I could've gone in and tutored the girl and gotten paid. But, if that student makes some claim that I did this or I did that, I've got NOTHING to prove my innocence. You gotta watch your own back in these types of situations.
Time is your friend. Impulse is your enemy. -John Bogle
People have no idea what this man is like. He and his wife are good friends of of a couple my wife has known for years, and this has completely devastated his family. They are a good Christian family, he has never done anything in the course of his job that would indicate that he actually did something wrong here. He followed Shreveport P.D. protocol. She had three hit and runs calls against her that night (for hitting property, not people). She had been a belligerent drunk all night and tried to get away multiple times prior to the incident. Once the person refuses to take a breathalyzer test, protocol is to turn the camera off. She tried to get away and injured herself (I believe she broke her nose). When he realized she was hurt and that the camera was off, he turned it back on to document what was happening so she didn't claim something had occurred that in fact did not. If he had done something wrong to her, why would he turn the camera back on? The fact is, you have her word against his and NO proof of what happened while the camera was off.
We shouldn't judge this officer when there is nothing more than sensationalized news stories to base our opinions on. This man's career has been destroyed for something he didn't do, and uninformed discussions like this only make it worse. Thank God he has a great church family that has stood behind them when no one else has.
Well, if we're gonna base it on hearsay:
Our secretary lives next door to the girl's mother. Over the years, the mother has grieved over her daughter's struggles with alcohol. In this instance, the girl's story has never changed--"when he turned the camera off, he slammed me against the wall and on the floor." She never says he punched her (which is more likely in a false allegation).
Also, my wife works a girl that knows the officer's family. She said the officer has struggled with anger issues.
Like you said, there's two sides to every story and you can't believe everything you hear...
There may be truths to both sides of the story, as you say. What I am sure of though is that the media is not interested in providing objective, unbiased presentations of both sides of the story. The truth will come out, and then everyone can form an opinion. Until then, let's all show restraint. Regardless of what the officer did or didn't do, he has a wife and young daughter that are suffering because of this incident. People have posted his address and phone number and they have gotten threatening regarding this. No matter what, his family shouldn't be brought into this.