> vilifies them for a few bad apples.
What is that saying about "a few bad apples" again?
What is that saying about "a few bad apples" again?
The same thing can apply to people. The fact that there are bad police out there is only to be expected, just like you'd expect to find a few rotten apples in a large bunch of them. But just like the apples, you have to remove them, or the rot will spread. Bad police don't seem to get removed nearly often enough.
So the police develop a thick skin, and close ranks to protect one another. They couldn't exist otherwise. Its understandable. But it leads to problems when things like police hazing perps is tolerated. It leads to deaths in custody etc.
I blame the leadership, which tolerated hazing and mistreatment. That has to be squelched instantly, or it grows without bound until somebody is seriously injured or dies.
Policing in other western countries indicates otherwise. For example, if police were held personally liable, as a strict matter of law, for the cost of their mistakes (just as individuals in the private sector bear the cost of their mistakes), they would tend to act more responsibly. Britain is an example of this.