"Why did the cop not confront the delinquent in front of the Mr. and Mrs. Taber?"

The officer violated the perp's "rights" by not giving him an opportunity to confront his "racist" accusers.

This is referring to the letter to the editor "Resident not impressed by Tinseltown" [on a Friday night] by G. Taber from Brooks, GA, isn't it?

Now, in all fairness, there was no mention of doughnuts but of the "officer with coffee in hand."

The officer said, “Yes, this is a bad place to be on weekends.” REALLY?????

If he can't do his job of intimidating thugs to behave ("coffee in hand" doesn't do it), then maybe he should be put behind a desk (while he works on his physique) or fired and someone else hired who can do the job. I've been to other theaters and the police patrol (move around, not sit & drink coffee, etc.) and thugs control themselves better.

"The officer asked me what I wanted him to do." --

Doesn't he know how to do his job? Now we have to tell the police how to enforce the law?!?! Why are they even there if they aren't going to do something besides drink coffee? [But go 5 miles over the speed limit and they know to issue a citation, all the while having quite a stern manner!]

"I am sure nothing was done and the police officer went back to his car and finished his coffee." -- I wonder why Mr. Taber came to this conclusion????

"Nevertheless, the young man was told to use the main entrance of the movie theater after he purchased a ticket." -- The "young man" didn't already know this, I suppose.

What about "how aggressive" the thug was? What did the officer tell him, "Pleaseeee, be nice, sir," while he was finishing his refreshments?

Isn't there a loitering ordinance that can be enforced? How about some arrests of these thugs? Then others would get the message and go elsewhere (since their parents don't control them).

Quite a while ago, I was accosted in a shopping center parking lot by 2 thugs who took great pleasure in intimidating me. Having no Mace or gun, I just continued walking and ignoring them, trying my best not to act afraid but ready to put the spike of my heel elsewhere if needed. Thankfully, I was not attacked but was able to get inside a business and call the police. They responded quickly and ran background checks on the thugs. One had a history of mental instability and was taken in (for evaluation, I guess), and the other guy apologized profusely for his "fun." Since he was not the main perpetrator and had no criminal background, he was taken home and his parent(s) informed. I was told that this incident would be recorded so that, if he did this again, more would be done (my understanding of the officers' comments).

"Naturally the lad’s story was a tad different" -- "lad" ???? Did he have a ticket? That would be easy enough to verify.

"Naturally," in my situation, I felt like the officers were on my side, not the thugs'. I looked credible and acted respectable; they were neither. Different time and different place . . . .

Mr. Taber seems to be in denial about how threatened he felt at the time now that he's away from the danger. He should stick with his gut feeling, not his present rationalization, because his initial reaction was what really happened. He's filtering his initial response through the "I could care less" attitudes of the police (the authority figures) and now doubting himself.

Thanks for letting us know what happened, Mr. Taber. Many here believe you and don't intend to minimize what happened to you and your wife.

From other crime reports about the Pavilion, the police do not seem to be doing the job that they're paid to do. Can they not do anything because this is private property? Maybe the retailers at the Pavilion are to blame, and we should not go there until they are willing to have the violators prosecuted. Does anyone know more?