The officers raided a pot dispensary last year and were caught on camera behaving in an extremely unprofessional manner. Three of the officers involved in the case were charged with misdemeanor crimes and are no longer with the department. The city has also settled a lawsuit related to the case. According to the Los Angeles Times, the lawsuit alleged that the officers harassed patients and volunteers of the Sky High Holistic dispensary. The city will pay $100,000 to settle the case and has dropped all related charges.
The vast majority of officers in Orange County and throughout the nation are models of professionalism and competence. However, in the current environment, all officers must do a better job of considering how their behavior may be interpreted by the public. While the Sky High incident may not have the same weight of an officer involved shooting, all such incidents add to the distrust that is already plaguing the relationship between the police and the public.