It's called gallows humor because you're the one standing on the gallows. When you're the strongarm of the state and laugh about how the city you serve is going

It's called gallows humor because you're the one standing on the gallows. When you're the strongarm of the state and laugh about how the city you serve is going to just cut a check in response to one of your coworkers killing some random innocent you're not engaging in gallows humor—you're part of the execution. You people can dismiss or deflect anything