The cops and former cops are the people who provide support the holster-sniffers. Once you have a couple of cops on board with the tactics, well then, hey, it’s A-OK and the holster-sniffers are off to the races.
These are tactics that would have been utterly beyond rational thought 20 years ago, where 20+ years ago, other cops would have been asking “Are you (*&*& insane? WTF?”
Today, we see cops close ranks against even the most egregious conduct and lawless behavior.
The APD is likely going to spend a truckload of the taxpayer’s money investigating this, paying off kin and so forth, and the likelihood that the bad actors will be dismissed is astonishingly low. If non-cops had pulled a stunt like this, the actors involved wouldn’t be allowed out of detention without a quarter-mil bond, never mind a mandated, taxpayer-funded leave.
It’s long past time that the taxpayers put public employees on notice that their behavior has financial consequences to the employee themselves - ie, if the cops do something really stupid, then the cops personally pay for all the costs of dealing with the stupidity.
Watching the video, you'd think that had a dangerous mass murdering international terrorist cornered.
These are the actions one would expect behind enemy lines in a violent brutal war...
I waited a substantial period of time before posting again because I wanted to give adequate time for the "holster sniffers," cops, and former cops to show up and support your statements in posts #14 and #23. It is possible that from time to time the aforementioned groups may show up and support a questionable action by law enforcement, but in this case, it appears that no one has done so, and it appears unlikely that they will do so.
Regards, RCT