Bleeding Blue

It is immoral to be a police officer

Ancient morality dictates that it is wrong to interfere in the affairs of others unless someone is to be hurt.  It is true that preventing people from being harmed is part of the job of a police officer but their job description dictates that they go far beyond that measure.

Our legislatures create laws... some good, many not so good.  Some based on true moral values and many based on purchased political favor.

Police officers are directed to enforce laws... good or bad.  This means that it is their job to be immoral.

Beyond the built in immorality, it is true that power corrupts.  Police officers by job description are given power over others that allows them to take property, issue money citations, take individual's freedom and even to take life.  This is an amazing amount of power and there are almost no checks in place relative to what should be in place for that level of power.  Additionally, police know that their lives are on the line every day.  They need to know that they "have each other's backs".  Because of this, cops never turn on each other.  They live in a world of their own and protect themselves against all threats.

"Every Cop Is A Criminal"... even if all the sinners are not saints. 

Given the 'job description' of mandated immorality and nearly unchecked power, it should be expected that there will always be 'push back' from those most abused.  No one should be surprised or upset when police officers are killed.  It should be expected.

People are often most upset by the families left behind.  Again... I see this as additional proof of the self centered, power hungry type of person that so wants the position of immoral power that they're willing to risk devastating their own family.

So, how do you fix this kind of problem?  It may not be fixable.

Part of the problem is the imbalance of power vs. oversight.  A civilian based oversight board with near absolute authority would be a good start.

The far bigger problem is our political system.  It is going to take a major shift in how our system works for improvement to begin.  We now have technology that would allow a move toward a democracy.  An example of this would be a 'Veto - By the People'.  If we had a process in place to allow 'the people' to identify individual laws and strike them down, we could move toward a less immoral system.

Until there is fundamental change... we will remain... where we are.