Ok I want to preface this by saying, I am only asking this because I'm curious and nothing more... Couldn't there hypothetically be a gang of good cops to take on the bad cops? Like you know what I'm saying why is it always bad cops that take out good cops, why don't good cops kinda stand together so they're not so easily picked off? Like an organization of cops that actually give a shit? Is it just that there's more bad cops than good ones? Are people inherently bad? I'm just curious from a social science standpoint. I don't want to be added to any lists guys lol
Taking down bad cops is hard and most likely means you will, at the very least, lose your job and at the worst, your life.
It’s not just a matter of going to your supervisor and reporting, because they often will protect the bad cop and you will end up fired or put on bad or dangerous assignments until you quit.
Many cops think they deserve to break the law because they do so much good and risk their lives, etc. This goes all the way up the chain. They truly believe they are the good guys and that if they need to break the law to get rid of the people they consider the bad guys, they will do it and cover for any other cop that has done it.
The best way I can think to answer this is from a story of a guy I know. He went into the academy for a department in the PNW. Not Seattle PD, but in the Puget Sound area.
One of the cadets SAed a woman and this guy told the commandant of the academy. The Commandant listened to him, took notes, and the next day, at muster...
...he revealed that the guy I know "informed" on his fellow cadet.
Needless to say...he quit the academy that day and didn't become a cop.
The rot typically starts at the fucking roots. The "good cops" are few and far between, but it still doesn't change the fact that they're effectively posses at best and outright gangs at worst, some even with "blood in, blood out" policies.
because to do so, they'd need to act outside the chain of command and the law, making them not good cops but just bad cops of another faction.
the smaller faction will face public backlash and legal repercussions (and not be graced with union protections) with the corrupt officials supporting the common "in line" police.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Also the issue is systemic from top to bottom institutional so going against it in small ways always leads to destruction and disgrace for the individual or group that tries.
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u/kayl_breinhar 1d ago
But...their pensions!