Good article.
As for the article's mention of "above the law", to me it's numerous prongs that all contribute to this:
- Cops acting like asses pounding their chests and yelling at citizens knowing the avg Joe can't do anything about it
- Cops using their training, gear and weapons to defeat an innocent person, or going overboard against a guy who is guilty of something petty
- Cops, the organization, the union all boasting their "buddy buddy antics" both in PR and in video footage. Out of all the videos you've seen where a cop goes overboard, how many times have you seen his cop buddies nearby jumping in and trying to settle him down? Probably none. Most of the time they stand there like a bunch of idiots, and sometimes will join in and get in their kicks, billy stick whack or choke hold
Like I said in the other thread, policing is probably the only occupation (military probably too), where even the most crazed nut will almost always face no resistance from coworkers.... "everything goes". On the other hand, whether you're a janitor, working in a store selling cell phone cases or in an office..... if there's some aggression going on and a coworker jumps in and goes overboard, fellow colleagues will try to jump in and prevent critical injury. Yes, there is a need to get hold of the situation, but as long as it's not a life threatening issue, your coworker shouldn't kill the guy. In policing, if a cop goes shooting like OK Corral, buddies just stand there.
