A Few Bad Apples

Nothing’s going to change until police start policing themselves.

The few bad apples theory has burned down in the riots. We should be seeing reports of police being arrested every day for assaulting peaceful protesters. We’re not, even though the evidence is right there on Facebook. Videos of police instigating violence and brutalizing protestors. Every day.

This has been going on my entire life. I don’t see any reason to believe it’s going to change. In Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan ignores evidence of their crimes even as the Seattle Police Department is still under the heel of the US Department of Justice for racist policing and excessive use of force. Governor Jay Inslee demurred and opted out of the discussion, saying the excessive use of force was a policing decision.

With leadership like that, nothing is going to change. You can protest all day long, you can riot and scream bloody murder. The blue shield is a moral rationalization used by people with absolute power over the electorate. Police make life-or-death decisions every day even though the are poorly informed, ignorant of the law and morally compromised.

I don’t care if it’s less than 1% of police that are committing these crimes. They’re doing it in view of the people they are supposed to be protecting, and the other 99% let them get away with it. How many police have arrested other police despite the preponderance of evidence streaming through my newsfeed?

The change has to come from within. The world needs a hero. We need police to do their job when it comes to other police. Until they do nothing will change.