im just surprised they did not search him. it all seems so fishy.
you have to realize cops operate similar to someone playing a video game, because of the well known quotas, going after ralph for prescription pills and a weedpen would be a misdemeanor at best. and filling the paperwork to get the meager reward of one or two points from a low level offense would be insane when its near guaranteed you can get people on assault or arson charges. their entire job is trying to maximize their arrest points to hit the quota so they can fuck off for the rest of the month. And arresting someone for an assault with a deadly weapon or attempted murder will get them to that quota much faster than being a dickhead to every low level offender.
its the same reason cops don't go after everyone going over the speed limit but typically hit the ones that will give them a reckless or dui. I know when i ran a red at 2am in front of an officer, he let me go once he found out i was stone cold sober because it would be a waste of time to give me a ticket or try to knock it up to reckless because just based on skin color it would be obvious i'd fight it. Instead he told me to stop being a fucking idiot and left to catch one of the countless DUIs happening on the road at that time.
You also have to realize that every arrest is carried by that officer, so the cop will have to waste a day of his life in court dealing with Ethan's bullshit. plus there is the inevitable negotiations that cops have to do with lawyers. Almost no one leaves with the charge they're charged with unless its extreme like murder. thats why people start with a fuck load of charges and will typically plea out to one or two of the lesser ones.
cops have been around long enough to know that he'd be wasting a day of his life for some suspended sentence charge that won't lead to anything if he goes after Ethan. i'm sure they were already told by the chief that this was a summer of george style protest too, so they should be extremely lenient with their actions.
why do you think so many cops never went after people doing much worse shit two years ago?
TL;DR the cops knew it would be a waste of time dealing with ethan, he didn't have a bomb and what he could get charged with wouldn't hold up in court/isn't worth the paperwork.
