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I guess I should belabor the point again.
Like any other organization or group, there are bad cops. Denial damages credibility. Failure to act on bad cops destroys it.
Maybe this guy was just having a bad hair day, but he appears to me to have, at least in this case, overreacted badly to a challenge of his authority.
Until the police start taking care of their own bad apples, community support for LE will continue to erode. Too many cops I know abuse their privilege to excuse semi-criminal behavior themselves. I am certain that this has not escaped the notice of their co-workers, but most are still on the job years later.
On the other hand, Ms. Bland chose to kill herself, not sure why the cops are being blamed for that.
Not too many people want to take that job with the gun and the badge and clean-up society's messes, and seeing people at their very worst, while at a significant risk to their lives.
Kids are also not being brought up to respect the uniform, if not the wearer, and are looking for a confrontation from the start. 20 years ago, most people conducted themselves with respect in interacting with LE. Now the opposite seems to be true for many.
Bad cops exist, just like bad citizens. The screening process for selection and termination appears to be ineffective, and I suspect that unions have some role in that. In my opinion, multiple incidents of excessive use of force and payouts of millions of taxpayer dollars in judgements should result in consequences, including personal liability and if warranted, prosecution and incarceration. To do otherwise risks a complete collapse of trust and confidence.
TR
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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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