I agree with much of this. I have a number of police officers I count as friends. There is one caveat though to this article; just as not all doctors are good doctors, and not all plumbers are good plumbers, not all cops are good cops. There are a number of bad cops out there, that range from lazy, corrupt, to those using a gun and badge to live out revenge fantasies. They are not the majority, but they do exist. For example, there is a local officer who profiles and pulls over people just based on their looks, and is known to lie about having probable cause. The other cops say they don’t like doing back up for him because they know what he’s doing is wrong.
But they don’t stop it.
The good, hard working cops know who they are. They need to stop covering for them and get rid of them, in their own interest as well as for society’s.
“The other cops say they don’t like doing back up for him because they know what he’s doing is wrong.
But they don’t stop it.
The good, hard working cops know who they are. They need to stop covering for them and get rid of them, in their own interest as well as for society’s.”
But isn’t that a big problem? Having a bad plumber may result in a leak, but having a bad cop ( or a doctor for that matter ) may leave you dead!!! And your metaphor is right in that doctors will cover for eachother just like the cops do. I had to change PCP’s a few years ago because the Dr. I had had for probably 25 years, was loosing it. When I switched to one of the other Drs. in the clinic, they made tha change without questioning my decision, but they would not admit that the former Dr. was a problem. A few months later, he “retired,” but everyone praised him right up to the day he left. So too it is with cops. They have a “code of omerta” just like the mobsters to cover for eachother no matter the circumstances. And while it’s fine for them to stand up for one another when there’s an injustice against one of their number, it’s the same game when one of them deserves to be disciplined. As I’ve posted before, just try lodging a formal complaint against a cop as I did once. You will really see how they operate when confronted with a citizen’s complaint and it isn’t a pretty picture.
In two videos, the one in Chicago from 2014 released just last year and one in 2015 in North Carolina, we watched two separate cops murder people. If it weren’t for the cameras we would never have seen it. In these two cases nobody is defending the cops in the press. They clearly just murdered two people who posed no threat, had no weapon, both were facing the other direction.
Yes, police work is hard. Yes, we need people to do it. Yes, the over whelming percentage of cops are great people. Yes, there is lots of danger in police work. Yes, you have to make split decisions that are not always right from an armchair quarterback point of view.
But none of these things happened in these two videos I mention above. These were cold, calculated murders that were obvious. And in both cases someone was trying to hide or minimize the fallout. In one case (North Carolina), the cop tried to put a gun down near the scene. In Chicago, they tried to quietly pay off the family without punishing the cop.
People like me, who defend and appreciate cops, would feel much better if others would not defend every single cop no matter how hideous and obvious the crime. Cops can do wrong. And a small number do.
With great power comes great responsibility. If a cop KNOWS if he screws up, if he short cuts the system, because he can, he will spend the rest of his life in general population, first offense, no appeal, no plea bargaining, no possibility of parole, THEN we will see some small improvement. You will either have better LEOs, or MUCH more clever blue suited political goons.
The Sheriff Of Nottingham had the same men, and they are always men who will cut off ears. Today they wear blue coats.
Excellent point and so true. Not all cops should be policemen, just like all teachers should be teachers, etc