In reply to a concern pointed out elsewhere, what could the narrator have done about the situation? He had no "pull" with the policeman, let alone the ability to usurp his authority. Yes, it would be a nice "morality play" for the narrator to try anyway, but it wouldn't be true to life. There is such a thing as trying to grab a passing dog by the ears (i.e., intervene in somebody else's quarrel).

As for the poem: it is very nearly prose, as noted elsewhere, yet it has (to my ear, anyway) a fine euphony and an engaging rhythm and syntax. The one thing that could stand improvement is the commonplace nature of its language. In some cases it works...

Damn, he's barely over five feet,
not more than 130, and some of those pieces
probably weigh as much as he does.
A couple of us go over,
and give him a hand
loading up the back of the truck
and I notice he's limping.
Probably a run in with a local gang,
that decided they needed
the few bucks in his pocket
more than he did.

...and some of it not quite so well, as it is too commonplace (at least to me)...

He drives up
the battered old Ford pickup.
leaving a barely visible trail
of smoke behind.
The engine sounds a bit off,
as if it is about to quit any moment.
When he turns it off,
the truck shudders several times as
the engine stutters to a stop.

While this is not my poem, here's a little exercise in word-smithing to show what might be done:

His battered old Ford pickup
looks about as insubstantial
as the smoke it leaves behind.
The slight wheeze of its engine
becomes almost a death rattle
as it shudders to a stop.

I tend to write blank verse, not free verse; even in free verse, usually the lengths of my lines are very close. Other than that, I like to throw words around in unexpected yet meaningful combinations.

wr ()()