I guess sometimes the ol' eyes in the sky work to the benefit of the folks getting arrested.
Angela Horton, who was relieved of her duties as a police officer for the City of Houston, said she regrets hitting a suspect in the face while he was handcuffed. Ms. Horton's attorney said she let her emotions get to her when she slugged the suspect in full view of the camera in a news helicopter. Of course, she also wants us to know that police officers must make split-second decisions out on the street.
I'm not sure that hitting a defenseless man in the face is one of those decisions.
Now for anyone who doesn't think police officers succumb to high levels of adrenaline following a chase, think again. For anyone who doesn't think that suspects are beaten by police, think again.
Judges, juries and prosecutors don't want to believe that the boys (and girls) in blue ever cross the line in doing their jobs. Judges, juries and prosecutors are wrong. It's just that most of the time it happens off camera. And if there's no video -- no one believes the defendant.
We are trained from a young age to trust the police. And, no matter what anyone on the panel says, jurors are going to give more credibility to the word of a police officer than to your client. We all know it. But we play the charade that something's that been burned into someone's brain can be erased by the judge saying a few words.
No one should be shocked by what Officer Horton did that night. We should only be shocked that someone got it on camera.
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