It's gotten to the point that I fear the cops more than I fear the criminals.

Humans are pack animals, and when the takedown of prey begins, instinct kicks in. Most departments don't train their officers about this effect, or about the adrenalin rush and "fight or flight" that drives them to overreact with excess force.

Police need more sit down with the other first responders. Fire and emergency medical personnel could teach them about how to handle life-threatening situations, where panic and irrational behavior can lead to tragic results. Fighter pilots refer to the almost Zen-like mental discipline as "maintaining the even strain."

I'm in Houston and saw this article and am confused. This altercation was from October 2008 - and this is being refreshed why? It cant be because someone intentionally recycling fear is it? What's up with this?

The scary part is that this is exactly what they've been trained to do, not just in Galveston, but all over the country. What are they training for, domestic insurrection?

Might be time for some lessons from Bunkerville to migrate to TX.

Brutes

This corruption goes on and on. That it is so widespread is simply dreadful.

Doesn't bode well...

I used to respect the police, as I suspect many people still do. You always here the platitudes that you can't let one rotten apple ruin the bunch and that 99% of cops are good cops, but how does that jive with incidents like this? Individually, they may be fine, but as a group, I do my level best to have no interaction with them whatsoever.

How can 99% of cops be good cops when you virtually never see one cop arresting another for excessive use of force? When you virtually never see one cop reporting another cop's inappropriate actions? When cops are trained to lie to your face about what your rights are or are not? When they don't even know what the law is themselves? When they routinely threaten to arrest you for asserting your Constitutional rights? When every police chief that you ever see on TV asserts that his officers acted according to the way they were trained in even the most egregious of circumstances?

At this point in my life, I regard the police as little more than a government trained and sanctioned armed street gang. I will always do my best to video/audio record them, and I know my rights and the law well enough to defend myself against their lies. If I need to deal with the police for whatever reason, I will, but it is always with a very wary mindset. Put simply, I do not trust them.

Shades of NAZI Germany!
The question is how a police force could ever conduct themselves in such a manner? Is there something we are not seeing or being told?
If what is being described is accurate, it has to be a nightmare to live in Galveston.

They are just Bullys operating with impunity when they have numerical superiority, the fact that the department backed them up speaks volumes. The people of Galveston need to act, gut your police department and start over being sure that quality civic-minded people are hired and trained.