Some NJ cities have devolved into total chaos (Opinion)

It's become a fairly common scene lately. The police are called to quell a disturbance and to avoid accusations of brutality or misconduct they calmly confront a suspect while cell phones record the action. It's a nearly impossible situation to be put in, yet it happens nearly every week in some of our more "distressed" communities. We saw it this summer with an out of control guy stomping on cops cars in Newark while police looked on, seemingly powerless to do anything about it. This week's latest episode involves a man seemingly unable to communicate, and unwilling to cooperate.

After a long period of time, occupying the time and effort of at least a half dozen officers, they try to subdue the man while the crowd yells and throws stuff at them.  I'll be the first one to call out when police abuse their power and use excessive force, but these cops in our cities are at a severe disadvantage and dealing with nearly impossible circumstances every day. You can point to the total breakdown of the family, an overburdened and handcuffed social service system and just a total lack of respect for social order and the rule of law, as a few of the causes of the chaos. And we expect our police to go into these landscapes every day to keep decent people safe, while crowds gather to record their every move and jeer at them doing so. It's like watching a reality tv/sci-fi/horror s***show. We love watching the viral videos. We oughta show a lotta love for the cops that deal with this nightmare every day!