Maybe I'm getting to be too much of a realist, but as I watched the tape of Philadelphia policemen gang kicking Thomas Jones, the thought that popped into my head and stayed there was "What did the he expect?" Reports say Jones stole a car, crashed it, shot at police and stole a cop car before being pulled out and kicked multiple times from a dozen or more police officers. If the "victim" did everything the police and witnesses said, then he was lucky to get off with a few too many boot-to-the-heads.

Excessive force? The by the book, on the record answer--yes, the police should have apprehended the assailant with handcuffs, read him his rights and taken him downtown (or wherever they go nowadays). My realist, what do you expect answer--Thomas Jones got off easy.

In Albuquerque, a sudden movement to any concealed area, let alone actually exchanging gun fire, can get a person shot by the police. In many ways, it's still the wild west out here. Our police shoot first and ask questions to the deceased later. If you get wounded, it means they missed. They once killed an unarmed shoplifter who was running away from the mall on foot. The cop got off, and there wasn't a big to do about it. It may sound a little harsh, but that's the way it is in my town. Needless to say, I don't mess with the police around here. Pretty much everyone knows about the trigger happy bunch, so it's a good idea to not to toy with the police when they have their guns drawn.

People are comparing The Thomas Jones Incident (sounds like a movie) with the Rodney King beating, but aside from getting both moments on camera, the situations are different. If the police would have kicked and beaten Jones after crashing the first stolen vehicle, that would have been like Rodney King. But Jones then shot at police and somehow stole a cop car (I'm still trying to figure out how he did that). Once you shoot at a police officer, all bets are off as far as I'm concerned. Shooting at the law makes the law more angry (I think that's an old Buddhist saying). The NAACP is defending Jones claiming his rights were violated. Once you shoot at the police, what rights do you expect officers to uphold for you?

Once Jones stole the police car, he was guaranteed to have at least a dozen cops after him. I'm sure there were only two or three initially, but the more he resisted, the more cops came running. When they did finally apprehend Jones, 10 to 15 cops were on the scene, and they were all going to get their licks in.

Did the police go beyond their sense of duty? You bet they did. Stealing a police vehicle is the biggest thumb in the nose I've ever heard of. Jones should have known that if they caught him, he was going to get it, and he did. I bet if you ask every cop who kicked him if it was worth losing their job, they would say it was.

That's what were really talking about--the difference between the law and those who have to uphold the law. Being a beat police officer is a pretty shitty job. They deal with the worst people in our society on a daily basis. They harden into uncaring, gun toting, uniformed hulks. If you screw with them, they will get back at you ten fold. If you shoot at the police, you will be lucky to live to tell about it. The Philadelphia police kicked Jones repeatedly and wounded him with gun fire. Almost a tame response to what I would expect.

I'm not usually on the side of the police. I know they regularly harass people above and beyond what is reasonable for minor transgressions. They put handcuffs on intentionally tight to cut off circulation. A lot of them are straight up bullies. That's why those who commit major crimes better watch their ass. If the police have no problem messing with regular citizens, imagine what they will do to actual criminals.

I may be in the minority on this one, but Thomas Jones got what he deserved. If I shot at the police and stole one of their vehicles, the least I would expect is to be clobbered. Maybe not on the street, maybe not on the way to jail, but somewhere along the way, someone was going sock me a few times. If I was a policeman who was shot at and then had to chase the assailant in a police vehicle he stole, a few kicks might come out of me in attempt to "restrain" the criminal. It's creepy how the whole situation makes sense to me.

Is it right? Is it human nature? Or is it just the reality of the situation?

Chris Jungle avoids contact with the police as much as possible.