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> I don't understand how other officers could ever defend colleagues who do this type of activity. Crucial point. Whenever a police officer is caught doing som

> I don't understand how other officers could ever defend colleagues who do this type of activity. Crucial point. Whenever a police officer is caught doing something wrong, the "few bad apples" argument is made. Here we had several officers, including a supervisor, colluding to invent charges against someone as casually as they might order their coffee and donuts in the morning. This indicates a problem that is much broader and fundamental than a few bad apples. And from the perspective of the average citizen, unfortunately it means that police do not deserve the automatic benefit of the doubt which they claim a right to.

callmeal 10y ago
Most people forget that the complete proverb is: One bad apple spoils the whole barrel. There is no such thing as a "few" bad apples. [https://idiomation.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/one-bad-apple-spoils-the-whole-barrel/ https://idiomation.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/one-bad-apple-sp...]
- dllthomas 10y ago
  Yeah, this has really bugged me. People treat the phrase as though the proverb was "there will always be a few bad apples, no big deal, toss them when you notice them" - precisely the opposite of the point. Not that reasoning by proverb is great in the first place.
cloudjacker 10y ago
Bad apples emit a toxin that make other apples spoil faster. It is basically the worst partial idiom to uphold the dignity of police officers
- maxerickson 10y ago
  It's not really a toxin though, it's a plant hormone. http://postharvest.tfrec.wsu.edu/pages/N4I1C http://postharvest.tfrec.wsu.edu/pages/N4I1C Trapping that gas is why confined bananas will ripen faster.
- abysmallyideal 10y ago
  It is actually how Americans express the implication through a form of sarcasm. I don't know the exact term for that kind of expression , it isn't a direct sarcastic attack. Instead of saying the whole org is bad, it expresses that the org 'is going bad'. So even in the land of "free speech" alot of criticism against their institutions is veiled in various ways.
Zigurd 10y ago
Moreover, what are the odds that a group of 100% "bad apples" can be convened from the cops on duty at that time and that place? What concentration of "bad apples" is needed to enable that to happen?

callmeal 10y ago

Most people forget that the complete proverb is: One bad apple spoils the whole barrel. There is no such thing as a "few" bad apples. [https://idiomation.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/one-bad-apple-spoils-the-whole-barrel/ https://idiomation.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/one-bad-apple-sp...]

dllthomas 10y ago
Yeah, this has really bugged me. People treat the phrase as though the proverb was "there will always be a few bad apples, no big deal, toss them when you notice them" - precisely the opposite of the point. Not that reasoning by proverb is great in the first place.

cloudjacker 10y ago

Bad apples emit a toxin that make other apples spoil faster. It is basically the worst partial idiom to uphold the dignity of police officers

maxerickson 10y ago
It's not really a toxin though, it's a plant hormone. http://postharvest.tfrec.wsu.edu/pages/N4I1C http://postharvest.tfrec.wsu.edu/pages/N4I1C Trapping that gas is why confined bananas will ripen faster.
abysmallyideal 10y ago
It is actually how Americans express the implication through a form of sarcasm. I don't know the exact term for that kind of expression , it isn't a direct sarcastic attack. Instead of saying the whole org is bad, it expresses that the org 'is going bad'. So even in the land of "free speech" alot of criticism against their institutions is veiled in various ways.

Zigurd 10y ago

Moreover, what are the odds that a group of 100% "bad apples" can be convened from the cops on duty at that time and that place? What concentration of "bad apples" is needed to enable that to happen?