Good cops and bad cops. And all kinds of in between cops. Cops are people. Cops make mistakes. Cops have implicit bias. Cops have to make split-second decisions. Cops sometimes make really, really bad decisions. Cops sometimes do really awful things, that any civilian would go to prison for in a heartbeat. Cops almost never go to prison, for anything they do on duty, no matter how heinous, unless the victim is rich, or a cop. Cops are held to a -completely- different standard of justice than civilians. Cops are investigated and prosecuted by peers with a vested interest in showing them to be innocent. Cops are almost never indicted, civilians are almost never not indicted. There is some evidence that a majority of complaints of abuse are filed against a minority of cops. This really gives some credence to the idea that some cops really actually -are- bad cops, and that bad cops really -are- a big part of the problem. Reason suggests that changing the rules, so as to hold bad cops responsible for their actions would make a lot of problems go away. Fewer abuses, fewer false arrests, fewer extrajudicial killings of unarmed young black men. Less hate against police, fewer big protests stopping up the street, less cops getting executed by deranged gunmen looking for an outlet for their rage when they decide gunning down a woman in their life just isnt enough to quench their taste for death. One would -think- that the good cops, an apparent majority, would be all for this. But where are they? They are no where. There is no sane outcry amongst the police to demand that bad cops be held accountable, in fact the reverse is true. The good cops of the nation are proudly standing up in solidarity with their murderous brethren, calling out protestors and shaming any politician who dares speak against them. Maybe they arent such good cops after all. Maybe the bad cops serve some hidden function in the force. Or maybe its a statistical glitch. Or maybe the good cops are worried that they might lose it somewhere along the line and turn into a bad cop, and want the protection. Or perhaps they simply empathize with, or even -idolize- the bad cops. Its hard to say. But one thing can be said: So long as the good cops stand shoulder to shoulder with the bad in earnest solidarity claiming We are all one, we should take them at their word. We should treat them all as equally responsible. Until a movement arises within the force not just accepting but actively -demanding- that the bad cops be brought to justice, no one can meaningfully say that any good cops exist. The door is open, the opportunity is here. There has never been a better time. Until then, they should all be treated as the unrepentant killers they protect.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 23:12:35 +0000
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