It was a rhetorical question. He is a man of principal and courage. He laid out his conditions and will not budge until they are met. Why should he? To answer my own question: He shouldn't. He is right and has the constitution on his side. The cops are hoping this will go away. It won't. they are hoping the citizens comply - they won't not should they.

One definite benefit of the smart phone. Now if it wasn't vulnerable to spies, government or otherwise...

honestly, my grown kids are afraid of police. Both live in a city and were raised in cities, that could be why. Where I live, the police are just like it was in the 50s US. Neigborhood safety. They patrol the neighborhoods and pull over if you're having a fiesta for a piece of cake, they ARE the crossing guards when the kids get out of school. They do the occasional Andy Griffith thing of letting someone sleep it off in the guardia but they're free to go the next day without being charged. The national police are different. For an american it's very alarming to see them all piled into trucks often with their faces covered with masks. Funny thing is-when there is a big tourist thing or period and there's been alot of press in the US about safety travelling here, they respond by sending out tons of military presence. They think americans will feel safer they are around. OF course, it has the opposite effect.
I know that in more touristy areas, the police can be corrupt and it's sort of open and kind of accepted. The best cracking down on that kind of thing has been smart phones. smart phones are great "witnesses."

Very well said and exactly right. My memory stretches as far as your's. The cop on the block in cities and the cop as a neighbor. A friendly wave, a stop by the home with a young boy caught, but brought home for the parents to punish, a lost child that could be brought home.

It was a different world, one I miss, and one that worked a lot better than today's.

Why should he? He's standing up for a right thing. He's challenging real life Mr. Thompsons" and refuses to comply. That's not wrong and there's no need to accept any lame apologies from them. THE cop out right threatened him - who was "the thug with the gun" in this case? hint - it's not the guy being threatened.

I remember many, many, many [you get my drift] years ago, the policeman was the guy who walked around the neighbor hood. Once when I pinched my finger in a table hinge I just ran out of the house, screaming and crying [I was 4!] and ran right into him. He knew who I was, and he picked me up and took me home.
And I remember I father, WWII vet giving every officer - state patrol, city police, everyone a little wave when we passed them on the road. They always waved back. He drove me to my PT appointments for a while, and he always waved - but they never did.
Now, WHEN we see them in our neighborhoods, they're driving through, wearing the mirrored glasses, window up on the car, no connection with anything they see.
I am angry and sad and angry. They are not our friends any more, they are not our neighbors or even our relatives. They are "them", frightening strangers at best and homicidal strangers at worst.
I'm glad that they knew someone to ask about what to do after they had dug their own holes with what they've said and what they've done.
I fear it's too little, too late - and I would not trust them, no matter what they said in their "apology". As long as they have created it and expanded it and nurtured it - and as long as 1 guy in a department still believes he's in charge - they are still, to some extent, "them".

Of course they should.

Why didn't he? I think maybe he's the lead of a new breed of citizens standing up and saying, ENOUGH, no I will not comply.

You've got it. It sounds like Brandon area citizens are making them face up.

They should face the exact same consequences citizens face. Peterson made threats on Facebook. Other people have been prosecuted for such farcical charges as bullying for such.

The problems between the cops and the public is simply that the police today have placed themselves far above the common citizen. They were once your next door neighbor, your uncle, or friends Dad. Now they are the paramilitary arm of the politicians.

They drive SUVs that have much more in common with military Humvees than your wife's Jeep and wear the uniform, body armor and carry the weapons of special forces units. The cops that are out in squads are dressed like their SWAT team "brothers".

The current "squad" has as much in common with your family car as a tank does with my truck.

The point is that every effort is made to build a divide between them and us. In every contact with the public officers are taught to couch every sentence, every word in the manner of an interrogation.

Gone are the days of the good ole cop on the beat - now the patrol. They don't talk to citizens, they have a contact - and document everything said. When they are called to serve a warrant, it's common to refer to the act as an assault on a home. All military phrases, all couched in a way to build the citizen being "contacted" into the mold of a criminal.

Can you see the headlines if something happens. Cinque would be torn to pieces by the press for refusing to help stop the violence against the police. All he has to do is accept any dumb ass apology they offer and it will go away. Why didn't he?
All the crap the MSM usually pull whenever they can.

Yes... and the Constitution class too....although I think it should be more thorough than "remedial"... cripes, shouldn't cops HAVE a 'remedial' understanding of it already? What country IS this??

I would not comply with that request to endorse the appology. The truth is that liberty and freedom are simply too fragile for police departments to hire people like the door-kicker. It's very sad, really.

I find it highly ironic that the police find themselves asking Cinque to calm down the citizens, rather than the police needing to solve their own problems.

Can you imagine the Police Dept. acquiescing to that last part? Wouldn't that be delicious?

"For his part, Cinque said there would have to be several things in the apology before he would endorse it. One of those things would be remedial training in the United States Constitution for Officer Joseph Peterson and the other officers of the Branford Police Department. Another would be a stand that the Police Department would not be involved in the enforcement of the gun registration law. "
Ha! Love that bit.