Power lunch links

Just because the officer was off-duty doesn't mean he wasn't working.  Several officers spend time as security personnel during their off time to supplement their income and gain experience.  He was likely in this role during the incident, though he had full police training and so on.

Also, police tend to be very cautious when a situation may get ugly.  If Parker did indeed start getting agitated and signal for other guys to get out of the car (and back him up?!?), then I could see the officer getting nervous and taking the situation up a notch.  It's a dangerous job, and they're trained to react to potential danger before it becomes real.

Obviously, we're working without much helpful information, but I'd guess that the following happened:

• Parker was having fun and got a little rowdy, as college boys will tend to do.
• The officer, who was present at the time, sought to quiet him down.  Maintaining peace and quiet was probably the primary task the officer dealt with in this particular job.
• Parker, being a football player and having gone through Fulmer's recent morning run, panicked a bit at the confrontation.  He then began looking for a way out, but wasn't thinking through things very well.
• The officer, now alone and dealing with a very large and disruptive man in the middle of the night who is calling for his buddies, went directly to ThreatCon 2.  The cardinal rule is to maintain control over the situation, and he did just that.
• Back at the station, when the police were obviously in control, the situation defused and Parker was released.  The tally is now one scared kid and possibly one undeserved Fulmer Cup point.

I could easily be wrong, but that's my read on it.  I don't see a clear right or wrong in the matter, and I usually give the police a lot of benefit of the doubt.  If this is basically what happened, I think the best idea is to simply clear the record and let it go as if it never happened.  There was no real malice on either part (in this scenario), so there's really no need to act further.  Sometimes a misunderstanding is simply a misunderstanding, and should be dismissed and forgotten.

I believe Hooper's points to be dead on.  The GVX article continues by stating:
"The commotion, records state, caused apartment residents to come out to see what was happening. Henard decided to arrest Parker rather than cite him to court because of the likelihood the alleged offense would continue."

The police officer did what he believed was in his best intrest...to remove the threat from the situation.  Sounds like the "investigation" will involve determining if a crime had been committed or not.

For those who may not know, Sutter's Mill Appartments primarilly cater to the college-aged folks who are prone to "experience college" with underage drinking, illegal drug usage, wild/late partying, etc. virtually every night of the week. It's no surprise that the 'citizens' requesting this investigation would stick up for one of their own (whether they knew Parker or not), given that most between the ages of 18-21 demonstrate some level of anomosity against law enforcement officials for a multitude reasons.  The rap group "N.W.A." wrote a highly-controversial 'song' about the police, expressing this sentiment that I'm referring to.

With that said, it wouldn't surprise me to see the arrest/charges dropped.  But at the same time, it wouldn't surprise me either if the arrest/charges stick...When the police make a reasonable request for you to "simmahdonna" and you don't, well, bad stuff will happen.

Just my $0.02!

The arrest was upheld.  Failure to follow an police officer's instructions will tend to place you at risk of arrest.  Doing it in the middle of the night in a well-established party zone just increases the risk.

And the Fulmer Cup point counts.