[oldfart]

"Cops have no choice but to follow the laws as enacted..."

I'm getting into this a bit late, so this comment has probably been picked apart already. But I just gotta have my shot at it.

Cops, like nearly all public servants and politicians take an oath to "preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Like nearly all the others who take that oath, they quickly forget it and what it means. They shouldn't.

No police officer should get a free pass for an illegal act by claiming that he was ordered to do it or that he was just following the law. Those were the exact reasons given by Nazis for killing unarmed women and children. If those arguments weren't allowed in 1947 why are they ok now? If some poor schlep of a German soldier was expected to compare official law with humanitarian ethics, why can't we expect the same from a police officer who, like as not, has at least a two-year degree from college?

I agree that police officers have a tough job, one that I wouldn't want to do (again), but unless they are mindless robots, incapable of discerning good or bad intentions, only whether or not the "LAW" has been broken, they need to be held accountable for their actions.

One thing I have always held to be true is that eventually, all governments fall. Ours will too. I have read a rather lengthy treatis about how the next revolution will go and the first casualties the government will suffer will be from the ranks of the local police forces. After all, they are the most visible symbols of power that the people have for venting their anger. The next group to be targeted will be the families of the police officers. Is that fair? No, but then, neither is life.

There will come a time, hopefully long after I'm no longer around to see it, when good police officers-- and there are many of them-- will have to make a choice between right and wrong, between Rights and laws, between life and death, not only theirs but their families as well. Until that unhappy time arrives, we can sit at our faceless keyboards, calling each other names and adding nothing to the fray except more blather. Too many of us are already adept at that.

[Brytani]

"Cops have no choice but to follow the laws as enacted..."

"Cops, like nearly all public servants and politicians take n oath to "preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Like nearly all the others who take that oath, they quickly forget it and what it means. They shouldn't."

And a cop enforcing the laws of the various states is upholding the constitution and upholding their oath. Show me where any oath new officers take states they will be the ones to decide which laws are constitutional and which ones they will uphold. Last I checked that was the job of the judiciary of the US, namely the USSC.

"No police officer should get a free pass for an illegal act by claiming that he was ordered to do it or that he was just following the law."

I never have said they should get a pass, as a matter of fact I have stated three times now that cops should face harsher punishment when they are convicted of breaking the law. However, to paint all cops walking/talking criminals as many on this thread has done is ridiculous.


"I agree that police officers have a tough job, one that I wouldn't want to do (again), but unless they are mindless robots, incapable of discerning good or bad intentions, only whether or not the "LAW" has been broken, they need to be held accountable for their actions."

I never said differently. However I have said because of the job they do, their privacy and their families privacy should be protected against retaliation from the nutcases who would love nothing more then to claim they killed a cop.


There will come a time, hopefully long after I'm no longer around to see it, when good police officers-- and there are many of them-- will have to make a choice between right and wrong, between Rights and laws, between life and death, not only theirs but their families as well. Until that unhappy time arrives, we can sit at our faceless keyboards, calling each other names and adding nothing to the fray except more blather. Too many of us are already adept at that.

I know many MANY cops and have had numerous discussions with them about the laws they enforce on a daily basis. Many of them disagree with the laws that have been enacted and many of them believe changes to our laws need to be made. However, I've yet to meet one who will say it is their job to change the law or to decide which law to enforce.