Are police in the U.S. using a disorderly conduct charge as an excuse, to arrest anyone they deem a threat?

In an article in the Washington Post, Pepin Tuma wrote:
Last month, I was arrested for criticizing the police and threatened for being gay. It happened not in China or Iran but right here in Northwest Washington.
The ensuing media attention has been disorienting and unsettling. Friends have counseled me to stay silent, fearing I will face retaliation. But my conscience requires me to speak out. Most victims of unconstitutional arrests are not lawyers (as I am) or respected Harvard professors (as Henry Louis Gates is). Their arrests don't attract our attention. They should.
The facts of my experience are shocking enough. I was walking with two friends, and we were -- ironically -- discussing the Gates arrest. We noted how so-called "disorderly conduct" arrests operate as a troubling pretext to arrest anyone police officers feel like arresting.
My behavior was juvenile, but nothing I did was illegal. I never cursed; no crowd of bystanders formed; I was not drunk. Because I am innocent, and importantly -- because I understand the legal system and can defend myself -- I am confident my name will be cleared and the charges dismissed.
But that's not really the point. The police, with the awesome power of the state behind them, have a duty not to overreact to people like me who act imprudently, even rudely, but are not breaking any law. Yet, that overreaction seems to occur in the District far too often.
I appreciate both Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier's quick decision to have the incident investigated and the work of the vast majority of city police officers who are committed to "protect and serve." But difficult questions persist: What if I weren't a white, gay, prosperous attorney? Would the media care about this? How many unjustified arrests go unwitnessed and unreported every week?
We needed to have this conversation about police culture long before Gates's arrest. We must agree to stop the routine, arbitrary misuse of police discretion and the invidious tendency among some officers to protect their own. From this conversation must come real legal and cultural change. With these issues at the heart of our constitutional freedom, it is a problem we cannot afford to ignore.


Link:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/07/AR2009080702999.html