Policewoman showered with insults: now what?
A video from last year – posted by the driver himself – shows him showering a policewoman with insults at a traffic stop. We have no laws against insulting police (although most people wouldn’t do it because of consequences) and it’s now being asked if we should.
I see why people might think it a good idea, considering the video, but do we really want to make it an arrestable offence to call a cop an asshole?
Tim S. 09:29 on 2026-03-31 Permalink
I think it should be a minor offence to call anyone the things that were said in the video. Jail? Not the first time, but fine or community service, sure. I’ve said before, we really lack a level of enforcement for sub-criminal disruptive behaviour. I have a theory about the decline in religion, but don’t want to trigger people.
Also, I think police should have the powers to suspend a licence for 24 hours for anyone not in a fit state to drive. Yes, it could be misused, but it’s crazy that that guy was free to drive away and take out his frustrations on the next driver/cyclist/pedestrian.
Blork 09:34 on 2026-03-31 Permalink
My first reflex is to say no. But then I’m thinking… what would the feeling be if, instead of a cop, it were a nurse or a shop clerk at the recieving end of that tirade? We’d all be outraged at the perp and would be gunning for him.
But still…
Maybe there’s a line that can be drawn between simply insulting the person (cop, nurse, whatever) and being actually combative, if only verbally. The former is just a person speaking their mind, while the latter could easily tip into assault.
But where is that line? And you can be sure that some cops would see that line as very flexible and could potentially tackle and arrest someone for simply issuing a heavy sigh, which the cop could then legitimately say was a verbal threat.
Kate 10:01 on 2026-03-31 Permalink
Would the response to the video be different if the cop had been male? But then, would the driver have felt safe to unleash a tirade like that if the cop had been a man?
I have no answers. I wish people had better manners.
Nicholas 10:11 on 2026-03-31 Permalink
A few things. First, a law that you can’t say mean things to cops is perhaps one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard. I invite everyone to think through the obvious natural consequences of this.
Second, I’m dismayed by the continual push to punish people with the power of the state for things they say. Again, it’s worth thinking through where this always leads.
Third, the way to deal with disgusting people like this is public shame, and one way to facilitate that is for the journalist to name this asshole. The person posted it on Facebook because they thought it made him look good, so disabuse him of that notion: go to his work, go to his neighbours, make this story the top hit whenever someone googled him; make him suffer the social consequences of his words. That will hurt him way more than a fine, and stop this kind of behaviour.
Fourth, listening to the video it certainly sounds like without this tirade many people would be asking why cops are pulling over a black guy for something so minor as window tinting, how it could escalate into a shooting and we might see a discrimination lawsuit.
Fifth, good on the cop for not reacting, and it’s nice to see they are stopping people for illegally tinted windows. But it sounds they let the guy drive off? If your car is not street legal then it should be impounded and towed away until fixed.
Lastly, we have a strong culture of no verbal abuse to customer service workers here, and generally the punishment is to no longer let the customer interact with them (kick them out of the building or off the phone and make them do everything in writing, and cite them for tresspass if they come back). Ot course that’s not applicable here, the man wants to leave. But sometimes when you have the monopoly on violence people will say hurtful things to you, but that’s the tradeoff, and this cop handled it well: finish the detention, serve the penalty, don’t retaliate against them for their speech and get out of there.
Ephraim 11:16 on 2026-03-31 Permalink
If the police want respect, they need to earn respect by doing their job in a respectful way. That means that unless absolutely necessary, they don’t violate the law… not even crossing a street against the light or putting their lights on to go through a red light.
j2 11:24 on 2026-03-31 Permalink
We should not, it would be weaponized immediately. But I’m okay with the hate crime being examined as a possibility as long as they are independent and aware of the slipper slope involved. If the officer had a bodycam at least we could hear the other side of the invective.
And I’m so sick of illegal tinting. I couldn’t tell you whether the car in question was legal or not, but driver visibility (ie seeing the driver) is a safety issue and should be fined as much as possible. Either rip it off in place or require an inspection afterwards. And maybe a re-inspection periodically.