While it isn’t something new, it is sad to see how common it is for police officers to abuse their power to harass people. Even if some have committed a crime or even a minor offense, this doesn’t justify the aggressive behavior some law enforcement officers have. Recently, a Redditor shared a video of a Waterbury, Connecticut, police officer threatening a civilian outside of their home. Yes, the civilian did something wrong while driving, but that doesn’t mean the officer had the right to behave so unprofessionally when trying to detain a suspect.
User Careful_Resistance shared the video on Reddit. However, the original source is WSFB 3 News. In the video, they report that Officer Sebastian Alli saw a suspect taking an illegal turn on Willow Street. Officer Alli followed the suspect home, and when he allegedly found the person’s house, he approached it. Instead of conducting everything calmly and professionally, he did the complete opposite.
You can see Alli through the home’s camera speaking with offensive language and threatening the civilian, saying things such as, “I’ll f*ck you up when I see you.” “I will literally make your life a living hell.” He even threatened to put out an almost nationwide APB for the vehicle, which is a bit overkill for an illegal turn if you ask me.
In any case, the Waterbury Police Department said Officer Alli’s behaviour doesn’t reflect the department’s values. Alli is on administrative leave as the Waterbury PD investigates the matter.
The unfortunate situation is that many Waterbury citizens saw this as usual, saying that the Waterbury Police Department has always acted like this or worse.
“Considering they set off my house alarm doing a death notification in plain clothes, walking around my house peering in windows. Yeah, this is not abnormal for Waterbury PD.” – silasmoeckel via Reddit.
“Remember that Waterbury cop who got fired for getting aggressive while working as a traffic signal? I’m starting to see a pattern with the conduct of Waterbury police.” – YouDontKnowJackCade via Reddit.
All that remains is to wait and see what happens with Alli and the harassed suspect. Even if the latter did an illegal turn, that doesn’t mean they deserve such disgusting treatment from the PD, especially at their home. Things should’ve been handled differently.