Thursday, February 11, 2010

We're the Only Ones...

...Settling Up Enough

...Contradicted Enough

...Sticky-Fingered Enough

...Bulked Up Enough

...Data Mining Enough

...Making a Killing Enough

...Making Withdrawals Enough

...Giving Repeat Business Enough

...Who Really Know How to Treat a Lady Enough

...Fishers of Men Enough

...Teaching Teens the Beat Enough

...Color-Coordinating Enough

...Cutting Back on Greenhouse Gases Enough

...Crash-Testing Enough

...Leaving the Scene Enough

...Backing Our Employees Enough

This is a sample of what I come across every day. I could give them each their own post, but as I've said ad nauseum, I don't want to lose complete focus here, and besides, I'm terrified of being accused of "denigrating law enforcement."

Suffice it to say these are the "Only Ones" that many say are to be trusted with guns. If you and I try it, well, perhaps we can be useful in arranging for some time off...

[Via FFFW]

11 comments:

jon said...

there's no way i could read all these. got a lot of work to do today. i'd need, say...

2 weeks off!!!!!

Mack said...

For years, many have thought there were only a "few bad apples" -- now, it makes one wonder if the orchard itself is rotten.

Sergeant Mac said...

Mack, you need to consider that there are over half a million cops of one kind or another in the United States.

I'm one of them. (and I'll be one of the first to say I think there are too many of us, doing too much in some areas and too little in others, and that some cops are just scumbags with badges)

Do the math. How many of these stories are there? For the sake of argument, let's say that the 16 incidents the author listed here are typical, and only HALF of what happens....every.....single......day.

Makes for a godawful LOT of such stories, doesn't it?

.....and, yet, accounts for only 2% of those half million cops.....

.....not to mention, he seems to be spanking the cops for the misbehavior of nitwit politians and wannabe politicians. Cops don't make policy - they just have to carry it out.

straightarrow said...

Assuming for the sake of argument and granting you a pass on the 2%, that 2% represents one Hell of a lot of power in hands not suited for it. Plus, we must ask where are the so-called good cops who haven't policed their own? Why have they not arrested these miscreants? After all, they haven't done these things in a vacuum, other officers know about it. And it is very doubtful that each and every one of these scum was caught out on their very first trespass of the law and their fellow citizens.

That dynamic of protecting even the openly bad ones pretty much taints the rest of them, even if they think they are the good ones.

straightarrow said...

Oh and let's not forget the sweetheart deals they get when they are prosecuted. Nor should we forget all the special considerations they receive as a result of all their whining about how dangerous their marginally dangerous job is.

Sergeant Mac said...

Having been in this field for a couple of decades, I can tell you that for every one of these spectacular media cases, there are at least TEN in which a cop is strongly encouraged to not let the door hit him in the ass, for far simpler and less heinous reasons.

Like, for instance, lying to another cop about WHEN he finished a report. Or getting busted for DUI by another cop, from the same agency. Or for getting all attitudinal off duty and out of uniform with a citizen, and asking them, "Do you know who I AM?!"

I've personally seen those three happen. Note that two of the three examples involved other cops bringing them to light.

Sorry, dude, but real life isn't like the movies.

.....or even the evening news.

Sergeant Mac said...

straightarrow, don't assume, and don't grant me any passes. Do the math.

16 stories. Times two. 365 days in a year. Half a million cops.

.....and that's over the space of ONE YEAR.

....while the average law enforcement career is SEVEN years.

Anonymous said...

Sarge, the assumption is that 16 articles would be the equal of the nationwide total of such incidents for any given timeframe. It's a huge assumption.

What really bothers me are the videotaped incidents where multiple sworn officers are present. I have never seen one in which the other officers apprehend the violent criminal in the act. They either join in the violence, or stand around thinking "this is just wrong, but he's a fellow officer, so I'm not gonna interfere".

Sean said...

Yo, sarge, you will convince me of the neccessity of cops, when: They get exactly the same treatment we do: They stop collecting revenue for cities,counties, and states: They stop beating the crap out people, destroying their homes and lives, and walking away when they do so if people are innocent. All they are to me is govt. mandated terror squads.

straightarrow said...

Well Sarge, you have convinced me that it is dangerous to a cop's career to run afoul of another cop. But you haven't done much to make your point when they abuse an ordinary citizen. And the evidence is against you.

Sergeant Mac said...

straightarrow, I refer you to my third example.