Officer Brooks and Angel Guice

I am not overly fond of police officers. Some percentage are just not very nice people, whether they are being rude and officious, enforcing laws differently depending on race, or using unnecessary force simply because they felt like humiliating, hurting, or killing someone--often African-American. Obviously there are also many decent officers who do their job. 

Unless an officer's request is obviously unlawful and/or you are ready to throw down, I would advise most people to use the courts to battle a police officer they believe is wrong.

Recently an Atlanta police officer stopped the actress Angel Guice and her male companion for being in a park after hours. I thought a warning was sufficient. However, the police officer chose to issue the couple tickets. In Georgia, you are apparently required to sign a ticket. The man signed his ticket. Ms. Guice refused to sign hers.

The resulting confrontation and arrest were caught on video. People close to Ms. Guice released an edited video and claimed police brutality. The police released the full video which showed the complete opposite. Everyone involved was Black, so it wasn't about racist police.

From Guice's body language and dismissive tone I wonder if she dislikes taking orders from a Black man. Just watch this video from its start to five to seven minutes in and see if you think the officer should have done anything differently or if he did anything illegal. I saw no misconduct. And as mentioned, I'm no police apologist.

Regardless of who you are, when encountering police, your best bet is usually to remain calm, obey the law and follow lawful orders. You don't need to kiss their a$$, follow unlawful orders, or answer questions. But telling a cop what you're not going to do when such an action is legally required (like signing a ticket) won't be a winning situation for you.