I’m retired NYPD, and, as you would imagine, there are knuckleheads in every line of work. Unfortunately, those are the ones that usually get you hurt because they are simply not focused. When I was on the job, there were appx. 38,000 officers. If 5% are knuckleheads, that’s almost 2000 of them and they make it much tougher for the truly dedicated, sharp, professional officers to do their jobs effectively.
Not sure when you retired but i’m 57 and grew up in Manhattan and live in Brooklyn. Today’s officers are nothing like the ones we had in the 60’s and 70’s. I understand the number of knuckleheads ( a very kind word) isn’t 50% but today its over 5%. Anyone that stands by while a fellow officer is doing the wrong thing qualifies.
I’m a retired Sergeant from New York State DOCS. We had our knuckleheads too, and once word got out among the staff, no one wanted to work alongside them. Why make your shift any harder than it has to be? I hated it when I was assigned to supervise the areas one of these guys worked in, because I knew, before the shift was over, I’d be called to respond to a problem they had more than likely created.
I know it is not most cops who are like this. The good cops need to gang up on the knuckleheads and remove them from their ranks. Now more than ever.