Behind the Badge
In the past few days, a video has gone viral showing Colleen Campbell unleashing an expletive-filled tirade at a Philadelphia police officer and employees of the Helium comedy club. According to comedian Wil Sylvince, who posted the video on his Facebook page, Ms. Campbell was asked to leave the club after creating a disturbance.
Once she was ejected, a Philadelphia police officer became the victim of her caustic tongue.
I’ve attached clip from a local news station because it would have taken too long to bleep out all the choice words. The actual video can be seen on Wil Sylvince’s Facebook page. Be forewarned, it is explicit and offensive.
The Philadelphia officer does an outstanding job of just keeping calm and trying to get Ms. Campbell to leave.
Even the gentleman accompanying Ms. Campbell takes the time to shake the officer’s hand and thank him for his patience.
It’s only after Ms. Campbell appears to spit at one of the employees that she is arrested.
To make matters even worse, Ms. Campbell made sure the officer knew she was a reporter for PHL 17, a local news station and adds, “no wonder everyone wants to blow your ****** heads off.”
Since the release of the video, Ms. Campbell has been terminated from her job at the news station. She posted an apology on her Facebook page and said she must have been drugged.
It appears all her social media accounts have since been deactivated.
While this may seem like an extraordinary occurrence, you can be assured there are police officers across the country who endure this kind of abuse every day.
These officers react with patience and oftentimes amusement at the oftentimes ludicrous behavior displayed by the public. You can’t take it personally. It’s just not worth it.
Ms. Campbell, however, has learned a very harsh lesson. There always is someone watching. and these images will last on the Internet forever.
Joe is a retired Anaheim Police Department captain. You can reach him at jvargas@behindthebadgeoc.com.
