Anna is out in Isla Vista on a rowdy Saturday night. All week, she has shuffled through mundane classes, refining her calculus skills and memorizing astronomy terms; all to make a quick and simple transfer to UCSB next fall.

Little does she know that shortly after a pit stop at a toga party for some jungle juice, she will be yanked off the street, handcuffed and chucked into the back of a police car without hearing a word from the cop, because she is drunk. In most peoples’ minds, this is an unfair practice.

Realistically, there is a huge number of people in Isla Vista that are drunk any night of the week; it would be virtually impossible to be fair regarding who is arrested. But Anna was not tested with a breathalyzer; she was not spoken to in any way, and the policeman who arrested her leapt out of a bush as she walked by, in order to make sure that she did not attempt a tipsy escape.

Later, Anna discovered that this cop had fabricated the details of her police report to the point where she didn’t believe it was hers when she first received it.

This imaginative, bored “man of the law” has attested to the fact that she was alone, missing a shoe, and throwing up on the side of the street when he drove by to discover that she needed assistance. He also claims that his decision to arrest her came only after abrasive and rude behavior, leading him to believe that she is “a danger to herself or to others” within the drunken community.

However, none of these facts are true. Anna was not missing a shoe, she was not throwing up, and she was not alone. To be fair, she may have been a bit buzzed, but was also perfectly capable of functioning properly and safely.

Unfortunately, when Anna explained this to her public defender, she was told that although this may be true, her best bet and only real choice is to plead guilty. The consequences would be far greater if she does not, and is found guilty anyway.

Anna is one of many to complain of false police reports. Tragically, there are few people that believe the men and women paid to protect and serve are truly on the same team, and real-life examples such as Anna’s are key factors in their mistrust.

These unique methods of justification for arrest stem from one sad character flaw: corruption. Constant complaint of unfair, sexist or racist cops not only takes place in Isla Vista, but in the United States as a whole. One has to wonder at what point the force that was meant to be our allies and protectors turned into the corrupt group that we resent, avoid and fear.

With these mentalities established, another question rears its ugly head: Is it necessary, or even justifiable for police to act in these ways toward us in order to keep society in check?

After all, Anna had been drinking. Although the policeman who arrested her didn’t know that she was under-age, he knew that she was under the influence, and it is illegal to be drunk in public.

But when is the line crossed between justifiable and power tripping?