[Jeff Higgins]

It's too bad the kid found success so easily. I won't defend what he did, as he did start off with an attitude designed purely to bait the cop, but the cop did rise to the bait. One has to wonder how many others in his long career (longer than the kid has been alive per his own words) have been treated similarly.

I was a punk kid on a Harley once, long ago. I was treated like this by a few cops on different occasions. I have never been anything less than polite and courteous in every encounter I have ever had with an officer, even back when I was that punk on a Harley. I always figured courtesy and respect were appreciated, and far more likely to get me the results I was looking for, than some kind of attitude.

Can I tell you how hopeless, how helpless it feels to be treated this way in spite of all of that? That is why I still bristle so whenever I see something like this, whenever I hear of police abuse of a citizen or their authority. Officers that treat folks in this manner during something as relatively innocuous as a traffic stop have some serious issues. They have no excuse. None. This officer in the video should never work in law enforcement again; he needs to be fired, losing his pension and the whole works. He needs to go to jail for awhile. There is no room for bullies like this, that hide behind a badge.