I work with law enforcement people every day, from all over the CSRA, and have for more than a decade. It is easy to see how an agency views their relationship with the citizens they serve by watching how they treat reporters and other civilians they interact with. It is most easily seen with journalists though, and I can tell you that I have never seen an agency, as a matter of policy, behave with such disdain or practice such a double standard when it comes to obeying the law, as the SCHP. I saw this coming several years ago, in the way SCHP troopers routinely threaten reporters with arrest for just trying to do their jobs. I could hear it in the snide remarks routinely made about reporters just out of ear shot, and have even watched as a trooper basically drove his car right at a reporter at an Aiken County accident a couple of years ago. The difference in behavior and level of arrogance between SCHP officers and GSP officers is like night and day. I'm glad to see this outrageous behavior finally come to light, and I hope that it goes further than a few officers, because someone high up in the SCHP propagated this "we are above the law" attitude, and they should be weeded out.
