How can we blame them? We have coddled them and given them the best equipment and hired more than we need. They see corruption all around them and think that they are part of that privileged group.

It is a sign of the times. Not all are bad, but the majority abuses their position for personal gain. Among officers it is well known there is widespread corruption such as evidence tampering and coercion. When drugs and money are found it is commonplace to make a portion disappear. Cops feel like this is their right because they are underpaid and put their lives on the line fighting criminals.

My only real concern is that criminals start looking like anyone to them. When a group of people who have authority and weapons decide to abuse their power who will stop them? Who can stop USA from bombing the middle east? It is the same thing.

So if you let your child play with matches you expect to have a fire eventually.

Originally posted by onecraftydude
My only real concern is that criminals start looking like anyone to them. When a group of people who have authority and weapons decide to abuse their power who will stop them? Who can stop USA from bombing the middle east? It is the same thing.

Ideally the free residents of these united states would stop them. We outnumber them easily 1,000 to 1.

The trouble is that they are much more eager and willing to shoot us than we are them.

Sadists are attracted to the badge and the state spends a great deal of time and money nurturing them.

I usually stick up for law enforcement because I know it's a rough dangerous job.

But this is insane!

Eventual loss of empathy that comes with the turf, along with being conditioned with the mentality that they're somehow above the law that they enforce, this is a very dangerous mentality. I can now see why we're seeing so much corruption and brutality lately.

Where are the good cops? Why aren't they speaking up?

Getting through to regular law enforcement is simply not enough, the good cops aren't doing anything! Nothing!

Originally posted by L00kingGlass
Getting through to regular law enforcement is simply not enough, the good cops aren't doing anything! Nothing!

They never seem to, do they? Makes you wonder if the "good cops" arent as real as say Casper or the flying purple people eater.

We keep hearing they greatly outnumber the bad ones. So where are they? Certainly not in the PBA.

Oh man, this keeps getting better:

Some of the most prolific ticket-fixers are union officials simply because they appeared to have been deputized to fix tickets written in other precincts. But sources close to the investigation say the Bronx District Attorney’s Office has implicated 160 officers, many of whom testified before the grand jury in return for immunity from criminal charges. Some will be required to testify in court against their fellow officers, a situation they are dreading.

Goes a bit beyond the 16 facing trial. People deputized just to fix tickets. 160 officers implicated. Dreading testifying against their fellow officers. With so many good cops why should a crooked cop fear testifying against another crooked cop? Doesnt want to look like he's doing the right thing in front of all those good cops? Afraid all those good cops will shun him for helping put away a crooked cop?

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Oh man, this keeps getting better:

Some of the most prolific ticket-fixers are union officials simply because they appeared to have been deputized to fix tickets written in other precincts. But sources close to the investigation say the Bronx District Attorney’s Office has implicated 160 officers, many of whom testified before the grand jury in return for immunity from criminal charges. Some will be required to testify in court against their fellow officers, a situation they are dreading.

Goes a bit beyond the 16 facing trial. People deputized just to fix tickets. 160 officers implicated. Dreading testifying against their fellow officers. With so many good cops why should a crooked cop fear testifying against another crooked cop? Doesnt want to look like he's doing the right thing in front of all those good cops? Afraid all those good cops will shun him for helping put away a crooked cop?

The same thing can be said of any government official. They expose their own corruption if they turn in another official perjuring themselves as well. That is why they rely on sexual misconduct scandals to remove their opponents.

That they can argue this out loud in public shows how institutional the corruption of the USA is. Even the cops want to break laws at whim, you know, like the big guys who run the show?

Thank you for posting this OP... I've been talking about this for years but it's come up more and more recently as I live close to the bay area in Cali so Occupy Oakland is a big issue. I really hope people finally see why the police are disrespected. Anyone who has had to deal with them in unpleasant situations know how it goes. They simply cannot be trusted and it's scary that people actually believe the police are all above board, honorable, etc.

Not all are bad, but many are and I know first hand just how deep their sense of entitlement runs. I have family that are LEOs and they like to brag about what they do to people and they all have stories about getting away with this and that... It's sick and it needs to be dealt with. Drunk driving is a huge issue and they don't care one bit. The like to hide behind the "I'm only following orders" excuse, but the truth is they enjoy violence. They have a group mentality of their own. Couple that with their feeling that they're above the law and approaching all civilians as not only a threat but somehow sub-human so they can justify the atrocious treatment of the very people we pay them to protect... US... Which they have very little respect for... Just watch the police brutality videos that are getting posted every day.

Make some examples out of a bunch of them. We need to make sure they realize they are NOT above the law. If this is allowed to continue it's not going to go over well with tensions already so high in Oakland and many other cities.

I for one would feel much better with our military guys protecting us here at home. I think they have way more loyalty and sense of honor and commitment. Maybe that's the solution... If Obama keeps his word on bringing the troops home then those guys are going to need jobs. Why not dump all these bad cops and give our troops, our heroes, the jobs. I think they would make outstanding police officers because they've seen war and real civil unrest. They have the experience to get the job done way better than any of the cops in the OP or any of the ones I know IMO. As they say, it's not personal, it's business and what we have now just doesn't cut it.

These cops are acting as a legalized gang, nothing more. Shoving reporters- ( assault ) ? Not allowing the media to film the accused officers - ( first amandment abuses )? Did you read the litany of offences? These cops are scum. They should all be reprimanded, investigated, phased-out, and replaced. There are plenty of honest people who need jobs. I'm really glad I don't live in the Bronx. I would not feel safe with these goons patroling the streets. S&F