Captain Virgil Hilts has it right, 90% of the men/women in law enforcement are just looking to make it to the end of the shift without a significant event that might alter or end their lives.
We did not see the entire video, we don't know much about the initial violation that got the officer's attention. We do know that they tried to run,
that changes thing dramatically in an officers eyes. The first thing that goes thru your mind is do they have a weapon? Are they creating distance to get a shot off? Age is of no consequence to me when someone runs, they see and know that you are an officer, yet rather than yield they evade. An old hand once told me that if a violator runs from you or tries to fight you they are capable of trying to kill you, they have no respect for the law, and after eight years on the road I believe that.
I've been the lone guy in a crowd of hostile people before, in my instance trying to arrest a drunk driver at 3am. When I tried to stop him he ran a friends house where a party was going on. Long story short two went to the hospital, five went to jail. It is serious business, believe it or not some people will try to hurt you.
In my opinion the officer in the clip let the people that were harassing him carry on to far. You could hear the one kid getting louder and louder, braver and braver as the officer let him carry on. On the other hand all the threats the officer made were out of hand. Once you give a verbal order and the violator doesn’t comply you take action, swiftly and violently if need be. Once a person is under arrest there is no reason to continue to spar with them. Let them know what they are charged with, mirandize if you are going to question them. Otherwise let them run their mouth, it makes them look like a fool in court.
I'm not defending this guy by any means, but other than his mouth he wasn’t out of line.