Police are always right. Do what they say. Trouble is never their fault.

[Tom Rinaldo]

65. What are you trying to accomplish exactly?

Yes there are a lot of shitty cops. It's also a shitty job. A good friend was a cop in Baltimore for 23 years. He's white and stood against some Klan members in the force decades ago. He was given a black partner after that and that worked out fine. He's also an anti war and environmental activist. He's a good guy now, and he was a good guy then, but he says he broke laws as a cop and he has no guilt about that. It depends on which laws, when and why.

There was a saying oft repeated: "It's better to be judged by 12 men then carried by six."
He lived in constant fear every day for those 23 years, and not because of some rsacist cops. Each day he didn't know if he would make it home again alive.. Being a cop is often a hellish job forcing you to confront first hand the absolute worst that humanity is capable of.

None of that justifies blatent police abuse. But I sure as hell wouldn't want to be a cop and I don't think our society is ready yet to get by without any. If I saw a crazed guy on the street stabbing people with a butcher knife I would call the cops. All they can call is each other - they must always move into danger while we get to back away.

There is no upside in demonizing police. Oppose them strongly when they fuck up badly, and that happens often, but the seat of power is far above their heads.