The City of Angels (and Flashlight Beatings)

This is an actual headline from the front page of Yahoo this morning:

LAPD Plan to Curb Flashlight Beatings

Well, as long as they plan to curb it, that's alright. I was upset they might attempt to avoid whapping possible criminals over the head with flashlights altogether. But, according to the article, they're trying to "discourage" officers from using their flashlights on a suspect "except in the event of an emergency." An emergency like having the sudden urge to nail someone in the head with a blunt instrument, I presume.

I mean, the LAPD needs to work on their public relations, right? Surely there's a way to phrase this without making it sound like department policy to allow officers to use their flashlights against people while making arrests!

And don't come at me in the comments with some "cops should be able to do whatever they want...they keep the streets safe..." line. Cops are essentially professional bullies with badges, and I recognize it's a hard job and some of them are well-intentioned and just trying to help people out and provide for their families, but they shouldn't be hitting people with flashlights. That's all I'm saying.