This makes me think back to when I was a Sergeant in the Marine Corps and assigned to the Military Police at Camp Pendleton, CA. I was the NCOIC of the main gate one day, and I had three Marines working with me, plus one more (a Corporal) who was assigned to a police car but got bored and stopped by the gate for a few minutes.

The main gate at Camp Pendleton is situated in a way where people accidentally come through the gate because they took the wrong exit on Interstate 5. So people come by all the time who just have to make a U-turn and leave base to go about their business. Occasionally someone with a warrant out for them or an illegal alien comes through, and we turn them over to the proper authorities.

On this particular day a big black dude from South Central LA had made a wrong turn and wanted to get back on the interstate. It should not have been a problem. Except the Corporal who was assigned to the police car didn't like the guy's attitude because he refused to show ID. My co-worker thought this guy might have a warrant out for his arrest, so he made him pull over in the parking lot, show ID, vehicle registration, proof of insurance; everything. The guy was furious, and his wife (God bless her) was doing her best to keep him as calm as she could.

The Corporal ran his ID for warrants, nothing came up. His registration and insurance were also both good to go. He still didn't like the driver's attitude, so he was trying his hardest to find ANYTHING to write him up for. The driver was so angry, it got to the point where he was cursing up a storm and almost about to grab cops and get even for Rodney King, despite the fact that there were four cops (more had showed up since this all began) surrounding him, all with one hand on either their OC spray, baton, or M9 pistol.

During all this I was busy monitoring traffic, since so many of my fellow policemen were occupied with the angry driver. That's when I looked over and saw my fellow policemen surrounding the guy, all with hands on weapons. I immediately halted traffic, and ran to the scene in the parking lot. I asked the Corporal what the problem was, he told me the guy had an attitude and they ran his ID and nothing came back. I said once again, "So what's the problem?" He looked at me like I had a dick growing out of my forehead. I took the driver's ID and other documents from the Corporal and said to all the LEOs with me "Every single one of you get in the gatehouse right fucking now!" I then handed the driver his things and told him where to make a U-turn to leave base. He got into his car and I thanked his wife for her part. The guy was still angry, even with me, but I didn't get butt-hurt about it, even when he gave me the bird while leaving base.

Me: "He broke no laws and there wasn't any reason for you to detain him, so why were you fucking with him?"

CPL: "He had an attitude, Sergeant. we were going to search his car and find something to write him up for, but you came and stopped us."

Me: "Whoopty fucking shit! I'd have an attitude too if some cop was fucking with me like that! Your job as a policeman is to DE-escalate situations. You assholes were not doing that, instead you were escalating the situation far beyond it ever needed to go. Don't EVER let me catch you doing that shit again!"

I never had a problem like that ever again with any of those guys that day, or any of the other MPs I worked with. Word got around about the ass-chewing I gave them, and they never forgot it. My fellow MPs knew from then on that I wouldn't tolerate bullshit on my watch, and those of the same rank or higher also understood that I wouldn't back them if they tolerated it on their level or at other gates.

I figured it out, yet I was only a junior Sergeant (E-5) in the Marine Corps, never been to college, only had 1.5 WEEKS of law enforcement training, and had only been with the MPs for about three months. Bulletboy knew me in the Marine Corps, he can tell you I wasn't 'Mr. Constitution', I wasn't even moderately awake yet, but I knew right from wrong. So why is it that these "professional" cops don't get it? I was able to reign in the LEOs under me, so why can't the Sergeants in other law enforcement organizations do the same? I let it be known to my fellow Sergeants and even my higher-ups that I wouldn't tolerate abuses on ANY level. That helped to keep them in line as well. So why aren't other cops doing this?