I've known a LOT of cops

[Savannahmann]

63. Agree, they are people.

But even the "nicest folks you'd ever want to meet" are part of the problem. The problem is the defense of the "a-holes who only wanted a badge to make them feel 'big'" and the silence that core of defense entails.

Those same people decide, often daily, to ignore, and remain silent about excessive violence used by their fellow officers. Those same people stay quiet while lies are told under oath because Cops don't rat out other cops. To those of us in the civilian world, Frank Serpico is a hero who stood up for what is right. For cops, Serpico was a traitor who betrayed the faith.

While corruption may not be as egregious as it was in the time of Serpico, it is still present today. It is present because those nice cops you mention, keep their mouths shut when the see, or hear, something about a brother officer. They stay silent, and leave us, the public, as the victims of the bad officers. Edmond Burke said that all evil needs is for good men to do nothing, he might as well have been talking about the Police. While there are certainly officers who would never personally choke a child out, as was the case just this week in Miami. Or would not be so trigger happy as to shoot a Grandfather without first giving the potential suspect time to comply. They participate in the evil, by not speaking up against it. They enable those bad officers, until the entire force is not only suspect, but as bad if not worse than the criminals they supposedly protect us from.

Even when a bad cop is caught, with overwhelming evidence. The other cops in that department will often talk about what a great guy he was, and isn't it a shame his family has to suffer this for one mistake? They know good and well that the bad cop made plenty of other mistakes, and those good nice guys you mention revel in the double standard that makes many of us resent them.

Do those nice guys you mention wear their seat-belts? I bet they don't, because I never see a cop wearing one. Yet, if I don't wear mine, I am subjected to a lecture from the officer about the danger I am putting myself in, and a ticket which results in a hefty fine for so endangering myself. Hypocrite leaves a bad taste in everyones mouth, but many cheerleaders will tell us the hard job the cops have, making life and death decisions in split seconds.

The problem is that they make the wrong decision, and the innocent dies. Oh we're told how awful the police officer feels about it. But that never works the other way. If I hear a sound that I suspect is an intruder, and upon seeing someone, take a shot because I believe my life is in danger. God help me, because feeling awful about it won't cut it with those same police.

If a baddie kills a police dog, that is murder of a police officer by law in most states. Yet, when a cop kills a police dog by leaving him in the car to die of heat exhaustion, well the officer feels bad about that, so all is forgiven. If I did that to my dog, I would be charged with animal cruelty.

The Police officer may be the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet as an individual. But he is part of an oppressive system which protects liars, abusers, thugs, and those aforementioned a-holes who victimize us, the people.