If Lou is a good guy, he has my sympathy... he certainly has his work cut
out for him.  I suggest you relate this experience to Lou, and if he doesn't
fix the problem, I suggest you then approach the city council about firing
the city manager that allows Lou to permit dickheads like this to make
contact with the public.  The new city manager can then fire Lou, and can
hire a Chief of Police that will deal with the problem.  (There IS a problem
if it is as you described, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, as I
have met both you and Ellen.)

I know of no decent, law abiding citizens that have been treated as you
were.  However, I am only remotely connected to the Perkins police
department, as back-up and support, so I don't know all that goes on.  Our
chief hounded me for 3 years to become involved, and I refused, until I
could make my own terms.  (After taking the Emergency Management position.)
I'm back-up and support, only.  I don't administrate, I don't supervise
within the police department, and I don't deal with the public as a police
officer... unless an officer needs help in a dangerous, or emergency
situation.  In that case, he deals with the public, and I back him up.  If
he's wrong, I go back to the office, unless somebody needs shot.  <G>

I know that there are some officers that would not like me to become more
involved, because they know I would be compelled to do some house cleaning.
(I have a reputation to defend, and I'm not ashamed of that.  I have no use
for criminals, and would rather shoot a criminal in a police uniform than
look at them.)

So, I have sworn to myself not to become that involved any more, because it
is a hard, thankless job.  The (thankfully minority (by numbers, not race))
dickhead members of the "public" assume that police administrators will
always protect officers, right or wrong, and some (thankfully minority)
dickhead officers think that if they get disciplined, the person that
disciplined them is anti-cop.

I grew up wanting to serve my community as a police officer, and got to do
that.  About halfway through my career I moved into "administration."  I
should have never done that, because from that point on, I no longer enjoyed
my career.  I found out too late that I could better rid the department of
officers that did not belong there as a Sergeant than I could as a
Lieutenant, Captain, or Major.  By the time the problem reaches the higher
level, it is already out of control.

I still have a problem digesting the concept that a guy that spends 30 years
of his life as a police officer can be "anti cop."  That, in a way, (almost)
hurts more than the concept that such a person could be considered by the
dickhead public to be so crooked as to consider the treatment you and Ellen
experienced as "OK."

So, what does a guy do?

He gets out, ready or not.  It's like the Tom cat with the skunk... I didn't
get all I wanted, but I damn sure got all I could stand!

The problem is, I allowed myself to get promoted to a position that required
me to deal with some folks that were in law enforcement that did not belong
there.  I dealt with them, and they hated me for it.  In some cases, the
public took the incompetent/crooked/rude/overbearing/whatever/officer's
side, because he could plead his case in the media, and administration
couldn't.

Screw it, let somebody (anybody) else deal with it, I've done my time in
that barrel.

I  hope you are about to find out if Lou is up to the task.

Each and every community in this country gets the police the deserve... with
some occasional deviations.  If your police department is not what you want
it to be, you are either a criminal, or you are a victim of your police
department.  If you do not make your public officials aware that things are
wrong, don't complain to me.

God help the guy that takes your complaint (assuming you file one, and I
hope you do.)  He's about to become known as an a.shole... by you, by his
troops... or both.

Damn you, Bondo Billy, you hit a nerve.

Everybody else, excuse me.  Or not.  It's my baggage, I'll carry it, with or
without you.  <g>

   A friend of mine who's dad was with th ecity police here for 30+ years
had a good comment one time when we were 'inspected' by one of the rookie
officers here in town while we were sitting in the park one night shooting
the breeze and the officer came off with a bit of an attitude.  All he had
to say after he left was they all have an attitude untill they get their
clock cleaned once or twice because of it, then they smarten up and mellow
out.