Good cop?

[PaulConventionWV]

I would support getting rid of police departments, but until that happens.... I will prefer to have more decent men as cops, winnowing out the better ones is what the establishment wants. We especially should elect guys like Richard Mack as Sheriff.

That's not necessarily what the establishment wants. The "good" cops give them a good name and help to reinforce the mantra of the hero cop.

I would prefer that decent men, if they really are decent, remain decent and don't sell themselves out to do a job that inherently violates people's rights. I also prefer that they get jobs in the productive sector instead of leeching off of stolen taxpayer money while doing a detriment to society.

[Anti Federalist]

People are so harsh and bitter. I don't blame them. But what is so hard about recognizing a leverage point like this? Look back on my history if you can in these forums. I am solidly in the "no such thing as a good cop camp".

Not be blamed, for good reason.

I have watched, in one lifetime, a somewhat free country, turn into one with more people in prison than any place else in the world, where you are more likely to hear the "midnight knock" than any other place in the world and a place where everybody is under surveillance.

I'm not real keen on shouting hosannahs at one of the people that are in a profession that is mostly responsible for that.

Not that I do not understand your point, (and Vegas Patriot's).

My internal bias and bitterness prevents me from embracing it.

[PaulConventionWV]

Oh, I get it... I also understand what you are saying, you think an entire group of people are all the same - no individuals. We simply disagree. Good luck living on fantasy island or where ever this mythical place is that you plan on living... where you have eliminated the need for police. BTW, how long before you build this utopian society where everyone loves each other and holds hands. I can't wait to move there.

I don't think they're all the same. I don't think murderers are all the same, but I do think they are all bad.

[PaulConventionWV]

So if you define bad cops as all cops, then all cops are bad. Got it. Brilliant, hard to argue with that logic, so I wont. Carry on.

Exactly.

You might think it's absurd, but if you look at my reasoning, it's quite sound. Cops are required, as part of their jobs, to steal, lie, assault, kidnap, etc. These are all bad things, therefore, any cops who do these things are bad cops. Since all cops are required to do these things if they are going to continue being cops, it follows that all cops are bad because they all do these things.

[PaulConventionWV]

That's just not true. Until you get into core leadership at the State level or at the Federal level like Congress, most politicians are as sold on the American myth as are the voters. Joe City Councilman and Bob County Commissioner may have warped ideologies, but by and large they are there because they actually care.

Once you get into State House Speakers, State Party Chairmen and Committeemen, and Congress and such, THEN it's a different story, with most of them caring most about their own images and careers.

Ok, I get what you're saying. Perhaps I should distinguish between the starry-eyed congresscritters and the people who actually have power. I'm sure you know just as well as I do how hard it is to get a "good" law passed or a bad one abolished. Most of the people who vote in Congress don't have any real power. I should have said TPTB don't care about veterans. McCain, Pelosi, Boehner, the people that matter... they are the ones who have power and the ones who don't care about veterans. They run the show and they won't be convinced by a veteran, who might as well be a broken hammer to them.

[GunnyFreedom]

Ok, I get what you're saying. Perhaps I should distinguish between the starry-eyed congresscritters and the people who actually have power. I'm sure you know just as well as I do how hard it is to get a "good" law passed or a bad one abolished. Most of the people who vote in Congress don't have any real power. I should have said TPTB don't care about veterans. McCain, Pelosi, Boehner, the people that matter... they are the ones who have power and the ones who don't care about veterans. They run the show and they won't be convinced by a veteran, who might as well be a broken hammer to them.

It's an important distinction though, because if you start this thing locally you can grow big and powerful before you have to deal with too many of the High Falootin PTB. It's the mistake we've been making that I've been calling out since 2007. 2005, really. We could have had 2/3 of the councils in almost every city by now. Half of the counties, and maybe 1/3 of the State Legislatures if we focused local first. By the time we got to Graham, we'd be unstoppable.

[PaulConventionWV]

It's an important distinction though, because if you start this thing locally you can grow big and powerful before you have to deal with too many of the High Falootin PTB. It's the mistake we've been making that I've been calling out since 2007. 2005, really. We could have had 2/3 of the councils in almost every city by now. Half of the counties, and maybe 1/3 of the State Legislatures if we focused local first. By the time we got to Graham, we'd be unstoppable.

Fair enough, but surely you know there are obstacles even at the local levels. Cities and counties often have establishments of their own that are just as corrupt. There's even some evidence of election rigging in my mostly rural county commission race. There's no telling what we could have accomplished by now, but I certainly wouldn't bet on a sweep of every city council just like that.

[Root]

There are very few good cops, because if there were, they would be arresting the bad cops or at least reporting them internally, thus increasing their own numbers.

Sadly, we see the police becoming more aggressive, violating more rights, with less accountability.

[newbitech]

Not be blamed, for good reason.

I have watched, in one lifetime, a somewhat free country, turn into one with more people in prison than any place else in the world, where you are more likely to hear the "midnight knock" than any other place in the world and a place where everybody is under surveillance.

I'm not real keen on shouting hosannahs at one of the people that are in a profession that is mostly responsible for that.

Not that I do not understand your point, (and Vegas Patriot's).

My internal bias and bitterness prevents me from embracing it.

For very good reason. I am very selective with who I would give that distinction to (good cop), and to be perfectly clear I am not even trying to capture the totality of this mans "work" as a combat vet and a civilian cop. Only want to embrace the righteous indignation he showed and utter contempt he had towards this court.

He made these comments shortly after Sandy Hook I believe. He showed me here that cops are capable of having that fire in their guts that tell them how despicably wrong the laws he signed up to enforce and risk his life for are.

This breaks the stereotype that I admit that I have about these characters. At some point this us against them mentality has to be broken. At some point people of all stripes need to break out of this entrenched cultural mindset that creates those stereotypes. I am willing to recognize when someone is ready to break the mold.

My point is simply this, the way this guy acted towards the council "as a cop" is exactly how I want to see more cops act when asked to enforce bull$#@! laws. That goes far and away beyond what I see a lot of people passing for good cops. The ones who just don't arrest someone for filming, yeah that was a good "act", but what you saw here from this guy was no act. The only thing missing was his costume, but that's ok. An attitude like his doesn't go away when he goes to work. This man isn't hiding behind anything. Good man. He's a leader. Maybe a little raw, maybe needs some refinement, but all the ingredients are there for him to truly serve his fellow man justice the way it was meant to be served.

[GunnyFreedom]

Fair enough, but surely you know there are obstacles even at the local levels. Cities and counties often have establishments of their own that are just as corrupt. There's even some evidence of election rigging in my mostly rural county commission race. There's no telling what we could have accomplished by now, but I certainly wouldn't bet on a sweep of every city council just like that.

No, not 'every' city council, but the key to overcoming the establishment in electoral politics is money. It takes a lot less money to overcome establishment forces on a County Commission than it does in the US Congress.