huskerwebhead
Sidekick
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2000
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it doesn't matter that it's a relative few who behave this way, what matters is the amount of instances like this that get exposure. if a great deal of people are already fearful and leery of the authority that the police wield, when stuff like this happens it's just re-enforcing those concerns and fueling more anti-police attitudes. cops are like any other public servants, they should always maintain a level of professionalism when they're performing their duties. if a guy is going to fly off the handle because he thinks someone is being a smartass then he probably shouldn't be dealing with the public. that's how a lot people see cops, as corrupt authoritarians who act as though they're above the law. it doesn't matter that it may be only a small amount of cops who act that way. until there are no more instances like this one, cops are always going to be seen this way by a large chunk of the population.
I think that's unrealistic. Yes, they are supposed to maintain a level of proffessionalism above and beyond what most people should, but they are human. They will have bad days, make mistakes, and bad decisions...or simply be a bad person. That will NEVER go away. It doesn't help that these types of instances are usually the only situations that are headline news items. How often do you hear about something good that a cop does on the news or in the media? How often do you hear about them saving someone's life. Very rarely...and we all know it happens. It just doesn't get the media coverage. Not saying that this cop was right or justified in any way, but if the only opinion people have of a group of people is what they see on the evening news....well, that's a problem.