SHOULDA, COULDA
Officer Collingwood should have kissed the son of a bitch
BY GEORGE HARRIS

On the 10th of August 1943, General George Patton visited the 93rd Evacuation Hospital. He found Private Paul G. Bennett crying with his hands crossed. Patton asked what his problem was and Bennett replied, "It's my nerves; I can't take the shelling anymore."

Patton exploded: "Your nerves. Hell, you are just a goddamned coward, you yellow son of a bitch. Shut up that goddamned crying. I won't have these brave men here who have been shot seeing a yellow bastard sitting here crying. You're a disgrace to the Army and you're going back to the front to fight, although that's too good for you. You ought to be lined up against a wall and shot. In fact, I ought to shoot you myself right now, God damn you!"

With this, Patton pulled his pistol from its holster and waved it in front of Bennett's face. After putting his pistol away, he hit the man twice in the head with his fist. The hospital commander, Colonel Donald E. Currier, then intervened and got in between the two men and had Private Bennett removed from the hospital.

Weeks later Patton was forced to apologize to Bennett in a letter and to the troops under his command. Just prior to his speech, Patton's aide-de-camp told the general that a poll of the troops showed overwhelming support for what he did. Patton laughed and said, "I wished I would have kissed the son of bitch."

On the 29th of November, Nevada prison escapee Kenneth "Jody" Thompson was taken into custody in Las Vegas after eluding authorities for three months. Thompson isn't your garden variety scumbag; he's a very dangerous criminal who was serving a 10-to-50 year sentence for a string of armed robberies he committed while on a two-year crime spree. 

Just before his arrest, Thompson had taken an elderly couple hostage and when he realized there was no way he could escape, he called 911 to surrender. 

After his arrest, officers questioned Thompson about the location of his handgun. According to SWAT commander Larry Burns, his answers were flippant and belligerent. So, Officer Chuck Collingwood thumped Thompson on the head to jog his memory.

Let's not forget Thompson was known to be armed and dangerous. Unfortunately, the whole incident was videotaped by the media, and, of course, the firestorm started. Charges of police brutality spewed from every liberal Democrat from Dina Titus to Barbara Buckley. I'm sure the liberal coffee-shop crowds were brewing up all the various protest programs against the police department because, after all, this was police brutality.

Patton said, "A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied 10 minutes later." That smack to the head had vigor, and one could argue an armed criminal needed his attitude adjusted. The problem, though, is at the time Thompson wasn't armed, and in fact he was handcuffed. Therefore, he wasn't much of a threat to anyone. 

And as much as I hate to admit it to those liberal loons, Officer Collingwood should have never thumped Jody Thompson. Sure, I understand Collingwood's frustration. I probably would have done the same thing. Hell, if it were me, I'd have kicked the bastard because, like the rest of the general public, I'm tired of these punks terrorizing law-abiding citizens. But here's the thing - Collingwood isn't a rookie cop; he's a highly trained special operations officer, and he's trained not to react to these kinds of pressures.

So there's no excuse for his loss of decorum. We as citizens can't afford any officer to lose his temper, because as much as I want to buy Chuck Collingwood a beer for what he did, if we allow that kind of behavior to go unpunished, pretty soon you won't be able to tell the cops from the criminals. 

This wasn't police brutality. It was a stupid rookie mistake and Collingwood needs to be punished. So how will Sheriff Bill Young deal with situation? 

If an officer is seen hitting a handcuffed suspect, every ounce of creditability the Metropolitan Police Department has built over the years is thrown right out the window. And, as in the case of General George Patton, some form of punishment must be dispensed and unfortunately it needs to be harsh. To terminate this officer would be wrong and a waste of taxpayer's money. A letter of reprimand would be viewed as too malleable of a punishment. 

Officer Collingwood should be reassigned and taken off the SWAT team. Let him spend some time putting that training to work at the police academy, teaching new officers not to make his same mistake. Bill Young is in a tough position because he needs to show support for his officers. Awareness of our faults makes us better leaders. I only wish Chuck would have kissed the son of a bitch. LW

George Harris is publisher of Liberty Watch: The Magazine. He is also a political activist and successful Southern Nevadan businessman. Reach him at gopgeorge@earthlink.net.