Not considered part of the bet but just an interesting post that kind of sums up my position;
Cops should be held to a higher standard when it comes to honesty, integrity, work ethic, professionalism. Not that a vast majority of the public are not good people but ALL citizens who choose to wear the blue uniform should be those things without exception.
Me-
If a cop is shown to be lying, fire him or her, charge them with perjury if that is prosecutable. If a cop is shown to have used excessive force, fire them, charge them with whatever charges are appropriate to the incident. Where I think many of you part ways with me is in a more gray area. Often times, just by the nature of the job, cops are in precarious situations and have to deal with people where the outcome may not be all that pleasant for the citizen. Often times, cops are required to resolve situations and in doing so, outcomes aren't what was expected. Sometimes they screw up but they were doing their best in a bad situation, where there was often, given the set of circumstances, not much of a chance for success no matter how they handled it. In those situations, because I know how difficult it can be to make those decisions under pressure, without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I am more understanding.
But for everytime someone says "I'm not saying all cops are bad, just most are worthless scum" I've said "I'm not saying all cops are good, just most of them" And I've never shied away from calling a duck a duck when some cop steps on his whanker or screws the pooch.
So on those occassions, when they say wait a minute, I'm only human"... it's probably because they are