Biff
Member
Something happened along the way in American society when cops started acting like we're under martial law. It's no surprise that non-American are absolutely shocked at these policing attitudes and tactics.
Most police departments have the moniker To Protect and Serve, but now police departments have an almost antagonistic attitude to the base of tax payers that they purport to serve.
That antagonism seems to be documented everyday.
She antagonized the officer.
This situation went from:
1)a) best-case scenario of receiving a warning not to commit the crime (jaywalking) in the future
1)b) worst-case scenario of receiving a citation for something that could be fought in court
To:
2)a) best-case scenario of not receiving jailtime for assaulting a police officer
2)b) worst-case scenario of receiving jailtime for assaulting a police officer.
By committing the crime, she initiated Stage 1. She could have followed all police instructions, which were, quite simply, "Show me your ID." It would have completely avoided escalation to Stage 2. She made the decision not to comply, and therefore made the decision to force the officer to enforce additional rules, which unfortunately lead to Stage 2 after she further rejected compliance with those rules.
Dealing with a police officer is a completely path-dependent interaction, with rules (logic) imposed by your jurisdiction's applicable criminal code.