revelarts
10-27-2014, 10:04 AM
The Police Are Still Out of Control - Frank Serpico - POLITICO Magazine (http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/the-police-are-still-out-of-control-112160.html?ml=m_po)
long article, worth reading
Paints a picture of the police that few, especially on the right, like to admit.
Are there Great cops and some generally outstanding police forces in some cities , of course.
But what Serpico describes here sadly seems to be the norm in many places. And in some form, at least part of, U.S. police forces across the board.
...Police make up a peculiar subculture in society. More often than not they have their own moral code of behavior, an “us against them” attitude, enforced by a Blue Wall of Silence. It’s their version of the Mafia’s omerta. Speak out, and you’re no longer “one of us.” You’re one of “them.” And as James Fyfe, a nationally recognized expert on the use of force, wrote in his 1993 book about this issue, Above The Law, officers who break the code sometimes won’t be helped in emergency situations, as I wasn’t....
...I still get hate mail from active and retired police officers. A couple of years ago after the death of David Durk — the police officer who was one of my few allies inside the department in my efforts to expose graft — the Internet message board “NYPD Rant” featured some choice messages directed at me. “Join your mentor, Rat scum!” said one. An ex-con recently related to me that a precinct captain had once said to him, “If it wasn’t for that fuckin’ Serpico, I coulda been a millionaire today.” My informer went on to say, “Frank, you don’t seem to understand, they had a well-oiled money making machine going and you came along and threw a handful of sand in the gears.”
....
...And today the Blue Wall of Silence endures in towns and cities across America. Whistleblowers in police departments — or as I like to call them, “lamp lighters,” after Paul Revere — are still turned into permanent pariahs. The complaint I continue to hear is that when they try to bring injustice to light they are told by government officials: “We can’t afford a scandal; it would undermine public confidence in our police.” That confidence, I dare say, is already seriously undermined....
“We can’t afford a scandal; it would undermine public confidence in our police.”
"public confidence" this is BS wind that whistle blowers cops and outside investigators hit when attempting to point out wrongdoing by police. The FALSE Confidence that the police are somehow NOT corrupt or corruptible on a large or small scale.
People are often Incredulous at accusations of Police wrong doing.
And upset that you bring it to the table.
But I agree with Reagan "trust but verify" .
long article, worth reading
Paints a picture of the police that few, especially on the right, like to admit.
Are there Great cops and some generally outstanding police forces in some cities , of course.
But what Serpico describes here sadly seems to be the norm in many places. And in some form, at least part of, U.S. police forces across the board.
...Police make up a peculiar subculture in society. More often than not they have their own moral code of behavior, an “us against them” attitude, enforced by a Blue Wall of Silence. It’s their version of the Mafia’s omerta. Speak out, and you’re no longer “one of us.” You’re one of “them.” And as James Fyfe, a nationally recognized expert on the use of force, wrote in his 1993 book about this issue, Above The Law, officers who break the code sometimes won’t be helped in emergency situations, as I wasn’t....
...I still get hate mail from active and retired police officers. A couple of years ago after the death of David Durk — the police officer who was one of my few allies inside the department in my efforts to expose graft — the Internet message board “NYPD Rant” featured some choice messages directed at me. “Join your mentor, Rat scum!” said one. An ex-con recently related to me that a precinct captain had once said to him, “If it wasn’t for that fuckin’ Serpico, I coulda been a millionaire today.” My informer went on to say, “Frank, you don’t seem to understand, they had a well-oiled money making machine going and you came along and threw a handful of sand in the gears.”
....
...And today the Blue Wall of Silence endures in towns and cities across America. Whistleblowers in police departments — or as I like to call them, “lamp lighters,” after Paul Revere — are still turned into permanent pariahs. The complaint I continue to hear is that when they try to bring injustice to light they are told by government officials: “We can’t afford a scandal; it would undermine public confidence in our police.” That confidence, I dare say, is already seriously undermined....
“We can’t afford a scandal; it would undermine public confidence in our police.”
"public confidence" this is BS wind that whistle blowers cops and outside investigators hit when attempting to point out wrongdoing by police. The FALSE Confidence that the police are somehow NOT corrupt or corruptible on a large or small scale.
People are often Incredulous at accusations of Police wrong doing.
And upset that you bring it to the table.
But I agree with Reagan "trust but verify" .