Mark Peterson, a veteran officer of the Provo Police Department is currently undergoing investigation. Not too long ago, Jeffrey Westerman, another Provo officer, was investigated for threatening to send a woman to jail for a traffic incident if she didn't show him her breasts (more information on the story available at HeraldExtra.com and DeseretNews.com).
Investigations of local law enforcement are often rooted with corruption and abuse of power. How many times have we heard of demented, gross and horrifying stories of police officers harassing female drivers? How often do we see footage of police officers beating up someone from their "dash cam"?
It seems that a qualification for a police officer is to have a knack for abusing power and taking advantage of civilians. Police officers in these situations deserve to be thrown to the curb and defamed in order to ensure that it won't happen again.
However, in the case of Mark Peterson, being thrown to the curb may be too harsh of a punishment. According to the Deseret News, Peterson has been accused of holding his police-issued gun to the head of his girlfriend, who Argyle found with another man.
If these accusations are true, Peterson may be guilty of making a rash, angry and obscene decision--but not abusing his power as a police officer.
