Bad Cops

I dish a lotta craps to cops.  Bad ones.  Ones that revel in the Police Vs. Little People.  That act like there is a big difference between them and dirty 'civilians'.  Like they are an occupying army.  Cops that routinely shoot the dog on search warrants.  That love to go all SWAT and who cares if they get the wrong house.  That like nothing more than to jack up an CCW guy on a traffic stop on a highway in Ohio.

I don't want cops assassinated.

It's an old saw that folks want to have more Sheriff Andy Taylor, and less SWAT, as far as TV portrayals go. 

It's more complicated than that. 

I wish I saved the link, the one that inspired this line of thinking.

Yes, Andy Griffith's Sheriff portrayal was nice.  Preferable.  But remember, Andy was a Sheriff.  Accountable to the people.  He was Justice of the Peace, too.   Another elected position, prolly.  That's why he did as he did.  Leave his gun belt in the closet except in the most extreme of situations.  And Deputy Barney Fife was a good man, too.  A bit of a pip squeak.  Enamored with the accouterment.  Of the authority.  But Andy rode herd on Barney.  Kept him on the path.  Only one bullet, and that in his shirt pocket most of the time.

What we have now, is a nation of Barneys.  Oh, not necessarily the clownishness that Barney was.  But, what if there was no Andy and Barney was in charge?  He's carry all six bullets, then you think?  And in the cylinder.  And be overly aggressive enforcing the laws.  Because he wasn't lead.  He wouldn't have Andy's moderating influence.

When a cops goes wrong he needs to be punished.  Long suspension without pay.  Egregious acts of repeat offenses, THEN we should think about prosecutions.  But initial wrong must be dealt with.  Responsibility.   But what needs to be dealt with MORE severely is the leadership.  They have much greater responsibility.  The ones that permitted the troops maintain an Us against Them culture.  Where cops play soldiers.  The modern day Andy needs to 'nip that in the bud'.   Who are the 'Andys' of today?  A group that tries to insulate themselves from their responsibility.  We need to push it back down on their shoulders at the lowest possible level.  On the elected officials that are or can be the most responsive.  Mayors.  Police Chiefs.  Alderman.  Councilmen.  A few of them need to be ruined when cops make the wrong, unjustifiable, search warrant raid and throw a flashbang in a baby's crib.  They sent the cops there. Suspend the patrolmen, fire the bosses and sue them into the poorhouse.  That is the proper actions us Civilians should take.  Eventually the lesson will be learned.  And the beat cops will be encouraged from on high to be cops, not soldiers.

Be mad at the dog handler, not so much the attack dog, I mean.  A trainer can have a dog that grabs a wrist and hold on, or grabs a throat and rips it out.