This is probably a 180 for me, but I do have to ask what the point of these "protests" are. I'm not saying they don't have a right to do it, and I would never get into the slippery-slope of trying to tell someone how they "should" protest... but do they really know what they're protesting?

At the risk of reciting a conservative talking point, what about the inner-city crime? How do we solve that? Police officers should certainly face the same legal ramifications for their dumb actions as anyone else... and some of these well-publicized shootings have absolutely shown how cops get off light, but are we really acting like police brutality is an epidemic? It's not even close. There have been 3,000+ murders in Chicago this year. That should break our hearts for all those innocent victims who were brutally murdered - little girls, little boys, innocent mothers, innocent bystanders... it's appalling... but it's not interesting to talk about or try to solve - or perhaps it's too hard to try to solve.

Laws in this country are undoubtedly targeted toward minorities. Drug laws should be reformed, as should our prison sentences for a whole slew of crimes... but when I read stories about gang members throwing shit at cops in their neighborhood and yelling profanity at them as they try to investigate murders, it really does make me somewhat sympathetic to police. Even if some of them are bad eggs, they are the only ones in these neighborhoods trying to do anything to curb this violence. To act as though they are scum and necessarily evil because of an institution that is tasked with dealing with crime is beyond comprehension to me. They literally put their lives on the line to go into these neighborhoods and deal with these gut-wrenching crimes where even kids are brutally murdered. The broad brushes here are truly ignorant and short-sighted.

Did someone post this on Facebook?

Except when they let dangerous felons out on soft sentences so they can once again be a danger to the community .

Prison is supposed to be for rehabilitation. I don't think the book should be thrown at everyone. Reality is that despite what you and MANY people may consider light sentences they were actually convicted.

If a cop walked up to you and started stomping the shit out of you (for no justifiable reason) most of us don't believe that cop would go to jail and probably wouldn't be fired either. MANY would believe that you had to do something to deserve it. Reality is some cops are assholes that get off on abusing their power and they're rarely held accountable for their actions.

Of course, some are, and they should absolutely be held accountable. But some think they all are. FF thinks there are no good cops. Do you agree with that?

Prison is supposed to be for rehabilitation. I don't think the book should be thrown at everyone. Reality is that despite what you and MANY people may consider light sentences they were actually convicted.

If a cop walked up to you and started stomping the shit out of you (for no justifiable reason) most of us don't believe that cop would go to jail and probably wouldn't be fired either. MANY would believe that you had to do something to deserve it. Reality is some cops are assholes that get off on abusing their power and they're rarely held accountable for their actions.

Of course, some are, and they should absolutely be held accountable. But some think they all are. FF thinks there are no good cops. Do you agree with that?

I've said MANY times that the overwhelming majority of cops and people are not bad. People are saying that you should read my posts more often.

If some cops (you have to start somewhere) were being held accountable (in the court of law) for clearly breaking the law and violating their oaths, I doubt we would be having this discussion and I doubt that cops would continue to abuse poor minorities and poor whites as frequently as they do. I'm not aware of any stats on this but if I had to guess I would say 90% of the people in prison come from poor communities.

Except when they let dangerous felons out on soft sentences so they can once again be a danger to the community .

Your anecdotal examples do nothing except prove that there are bad cops... they do nothing to prove that all cops are bad. There are police officers who have died saving people's lives. Do you consider them to have been "bad cops"?

Answer my question without being a smartass prick and then I will answer this.

I think there's much more to it than just saying they're a "bad cop." In and of itself, that is a bad action, yes, so more times than not, my answer is probably yes... but if the cop had also done hundreds of truly selfless and heroic things to save lives throughout his career, I would say it was a bad action/decision made by a generally good cop.

Your anecdotal examples do nothing except prove that there are bad cops... they do nothing to prove that all cops are bad. There are police officers who have died saving people's lives. Do you consider them to have been "bad cops"?

Ok, so the inverse of that would also apply. A guy who did many shitty things while on the job but died trying to save a life is still a generally bad cop who did a heroic thing. All of this is hypothetical anyway.

I think you missed the point of the "anecdote". It didn't really show an example of a bad cop. It showed an example of a bad police institution literally terminating an officer for not killing someone who did have an unloaded gun but was not threatening the officer at all. I don't think it's a coincidence that this good cop was a former Marine. Soldiers know what actual rules of engagement are. They don't "fear for their life" and shoot anything that moves. This officer is clearly qualified to handle intense and possible dangerous situations using his training and common sense. Police departments don't want that guy. They want the guy who is going to "eliminate the threat" first and explain it later.

In the other thread, I already agreed to modify "all cops are bad" to "all cops voluntarily associate and work for a bad institution". And once we extrapolate all these stories that you want to dismiss as anecdotes, the conclusion that should be reached is that JORR and I are correct. Police departments as currently operated are inherently corrupt organizations that do not serve communities the way they are designed and advertised to. It seems to me that it's not really a stretch, not "ignorant and short sighted" at all, to say that these institutions flush out cops like Stephen Mader who actually could be a force for good in the community, and reward killer cops who will pull a trigger without hesitation or context.