Out of control.

That’s how the police chief of McKinney, Texas, described the abhorrent actions of former police Cpl. Eric Casebolt in responding to a call at an end-of-school pool party in a suburban Dallas neighborhood.

A cellphone video showing Mr. Casebolt’s alarming physical takedown of bikini-clad 14-year-old Dajerria Becton is even more harrowing when he pulls out his gun and aims it at teenage boys running to respond to the girl’s cries to call her mother.

The video has gone viral, with nearly 10 million hits on YouTube alone.

The disturbing images tell the unvarnished truth — that those who are paid to bring calm and to defuse situations sometimes escalate situations with their actions and abuse. Sadly, cops can be the bad guys.

It’s a truth we’ve seen played out again and again in communities across the nation as white police officers have beaten, shot, choked, kicked and killed black people.

What made the situation in McKinney even more traumatic to the public psyche is the officer’s unwarranted actions were pitted against children — unthreatening innocents who, according to the video, were doing nothing more than mouthing off.

Even 15-year-old Brandon Brooks, who was at the party and captured Mr. Casebolt’s manic actions on his cellphone video, said the officer’s behavior was uncalled for.

“When he pulled his gun, my heart dropped. As soon as he pulled out his gun, I thought he was going to shoot that kid. That was very scary,” he told local media.

Brandon, who is white, also noted what many people recognized viewing the video — that the cop’s actions were directed against people of color.

“Everyone who was getting put on the ground was black, Mexican, Arabic. [The cop] didn’t even look at me. It was kind of like I was invisible,” he said.

We are relieved and glad that Mr. Casebolt resigned from the police force. He, and officers like him, should be shut down.

However, we believe an investigation by local, state and federal officials is in order to root out and remove the problems in hiring, training, policy and practices that allow people like Mr. Casebolt to become police officers and their actions sanctioned.

We also call for the national NAACP or another watchdog group to create and maintain a national database of police officers who resign or are disciplined, fired, or sued for excessive use of force and aberrant behavior. Such a database would put police agencies and the public on notice so that bad cops cannot leave their jobs, move elsewhere and wreak the same havoc on another unsuspecting community.

Like a sex offender registry, a police offender registry should bar the offender from ever getting another job wearing a badge and carrying a gun.