LogFAQs > #943846906

Regardless of how relevant that one picture is, I believe the actual problem with the police is accountability.

There will always be assholes in any given group and law enforcement is no different. No matter the changes, there will always be cases of abuse. Ensuring no abuse ever happens is not a realistic goal by any means. The actual goals are reducing those cases and making sure that when they do happen, they are handled fairly.

Chauvin chose to be an asshole and not care about the harm he did to another man. The 3 officers next to him chose to support their fellow officer instead of calling him out. They stood there and kept the public away while the bad cop did his thing. This is not an isolated case. Look over any police brutality video. Yes, we can all agree that the one officer committing the abuse is a bad cop, but what are those standing around and merely keeping the public away?

It's no secret that trusting and supporting your fellow officers is considered vital in law enforcement. "When you're out there, they're the only ones that got your back". When there's no abuse happening, this is a fine sentiment. When you simply keep watching and keep the public away while a fellow officer pepper-sprays a child, hit a news reporter or presses his knee on the neck of a restrained man, that's a different story.

If cops are insistent that the problem is merely a few bad apples then they need to spot, neutralize and get rid of those bad apples as quickly as they can. There is a pattern of doing nothing until a civilian's recording of the abuse becomes viral, sending the officer on paid leave and, months later after the outrage dies down, either clearing them of all charges or sending them to another department with a clean slate.

tl;dr: Cops need to police their fellow cops and the justice system needs to be more proactive and open when dealing with abuses by cops.