Resistance is futile

I can’t be any more clear: Police abuse won’t stop until voters get involved. That means finding out which local politicians have authority over your police force, going to the public meetings and getting as many people as you can involved. It can be done, it has been done. It’s one of the few relatively easy things to improve in local government.

But if all you do is read about it and say, “Tsk tsk,” (because after all, it didn’t happen to anyone you know – yet) it will continue to spread.

DALLAS – A former Department of Public Safety trooper who was accused of using excessive force during a traffic stop now faces criminal charges.

Trooper Arturo Perez was charged with misdemeanor assault for the incident that happened on the Dallas North Tollway in October 2009.

An attorney for the victim said while she was driving her passenger grabbed the wheel and caused her to crash into the wall near Lemon Avenue.

The 22-year-old suffered very minor injuries when her airbag deployed. But she called 911 and that’s when things got worse.

Dash camera video shows Perez handcuff the woman and slam her into a wall.

“As a chief felony prosecutor, a county judge, a state district judge, I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s horrific,” said Attorney Randy Isenberg. “Clearly excessive brutal force, he snapped. He lost his temper and he hurt her really bad.”

The victim was treated at a hospital for a deep gash in her chin. She also had cuts on her knees.