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We hear about the few bad apples when it comes to bad cops. Some say 1% others 10% or even more. What is your definition of a "bad cop"? It is your duty to enforce the law. You are not above the law although some of them pertain to you differently. As in any profession, that person is expected to have greater knowledge and understanding in their field. That does not seem to be the case anymore.
( More to the point, what is your definition of a bad cop? There are lots of types of cops just like there are lots of kinds of people. The same can be said for organizations. Leadership sets the tone and affects the entire system. While your city might be lucky to get effective, dedicated, and professional cops, there are lazy cops, exhausted cops, overwhelmed cops, burnt out cops, inept cops, and those who try the criminal activities which they are supposed to protect society from. I call the last bad cops. ) Why is it okay for them to arrest me then drop charges later? That arrest is on my record even though I was innocent.
( I have to have probable cause, that is enough evidence to reasonably conclude a crime was committed, in order to arrest. Often charges are dropped for ridiculous reasons. Our county does not have enough money to prosecute 90% of the criminals that we arrest, so the DAs triage their case load and let many obviously guilty people walk free. Sometimes the evidence was there for an arrest but the D.A. cannot get a conviction due to "without any doubt whatsoever of innocence" standard at trials. We have a lot of liberals in the jury pool who watched Oprah/Sally Jessie Raphael/Ellen Degeneres juries that watch a lot of CSI and therefore demand $17, 000, 000 crime lab evidence, or else the cops were just lazy and arrested the poor criminal out of contempt. Sometimes the educated look down on dumb blue collar cops and, in order to be "cool" and to help the downtrodden man of color, let another obvious criminal go free.
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...udge-Reduces-Bail-to-Zero-442063513.html
Anyway, back to the original question. To all the "good cops" out there or any professional of the law, have you ever looked the other way while one of your brothers have broken the law? I hear about officer discretion but why aren't you held to a higher standard?
(Yes I am held to a higher standard, especially regarding the use of force in order to affect an arrest. "Discretion" is using a advisement instead of a citation. Looking the other way when a "brother" breaks the law? No; and there is a reason I will never get promoted in this town. In the corruption that is San Francisco, a bad cop is peanuts. But it is still intolerable. Often the "bad" ones are actually good ones that have been eliminated politically by the "special"category hires my city prefers.
Are you still considered a good cop if you follow everything to the book but let other LEO slide while they fail at their paid profession?
(I have lost that battle. It is for the supervisors to fix the failures. I often do a better job than the supervisors which gets me disdain and disrespect, until they need me for another dirty job.I live in a very rural area and the majority of folks are good honest people. Our ratio of LEO to population is absurd. I'm not sure how so many bad apples can fit in one barrel. We have some great officers but the ratio isn't good. Just recently we have a couple that have been fired for beating the crap out of people while on duty, one for shooting up buildings twice and a trooper that is deemed Giglio impaired. These are just a few of the instances that are public. There are many more swept under the rug by their buddies.
( I work in a major city and I have my doubts about a lot of the people who live here. I am sorry your area organization hires those kinds of people for your department. I have heard horror stories other departments with nepotism or gang infiltration.)I used to always give the benefit to the LEO but it is now the opposite. In my opinion this profession is going to hell and it is up to the good guys to turn it around. Are you up for the task?
