protesting the police

Ahh, here we go again. The police chase down a criminal in a high speed pursuit chase, the suspect resists arrest and the police give him a thumping. Time for everybody to come out of the woodwork and claim that all criminals need a beating or that the police should have asked pretty please next time because to do otherwise would be akin to the trans-Atlantic passage. Can we all please calm down. A few seconds of a video tape means nothing. Let the justice system work. That's all I can ask. Don't ask for a special, political prosecution because, otherwise, that is a direct violation of the 14th Amendment and the equal protection clause and, being the descendent of a civil war vet for the Union, I take that idea a bit seriously.
Personally, I think anybody that runs from the cops is a stinking idiot and I have very little personal sympathy for the person, especially in a high speed chase where they put other people's lives in danger, including the police. However, just because I have a personal distaste for people who do that, does not mean I excuse the police for what happened. They should use the necessary force to bring down the perp (and sometimes force is necessary), but should refrain from vendetta-like actions. I know, easier said than done, but that's what we expect when we place that authority in their hands. However, the proper venue for determining whether the force was indeed warranted is a court of law or a police tribunal. Somebody seeing ten seconds of a video hasn't a clue what was appropriate and what wasn't. I don't know, so I'm remaining agnostic. Please, St. Louis, let's not make this a race war which we (and, heck the country) love to seem to do.
Finally, is there any stupider order in the entire world than the no-chase rule? If I were of the criminal bent (which I'm not, and don't even try to act as though I'm inciting anything) and I were in a no-chase district, I would never, ever slow down for a cop if I thought they couldn't ID me. Those laws just encourage people to try and get away, which causes more pain and misery in the long run. Let policemen do their job while still expecting the highest standards of conduct from them.