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This American Life had a very disturbing story about how the NYPD turned on the cop that outed them for this and other stuff. See Act 2: Is That a Tape Recorde

• jlgreco 14y ago
  The Blue Code of Silence. But in spite of this, presumably most cops are good cops.
  • tptacek 14y ago
    It is a very, very hard job, most of all psychologically. We tend to blame cops for the pathologies they develop (insularity, authoritarianism, prejudice), but it's easy to see that we as a society more or less inflict those pathologies on the police. Doesn't make stop & frisk, or arrests for recording cops, or drug dog searches OK. But the context is valuable.
  • rdtsc 14y ago
    > But in spite of this, presumably most cops are good cops. It feels that is a strenuous assumption we make to still feel good about our police force. "Surely most cops are good...? They, must be, right, ... right?" Now think of it this way. Would you consider a doctor a "good doctor" if he sees his colleagues during surgery do something dangerous, such us leaving instruments in people abdomens, or re-using scalpels without sterilizing them? I wouldn't. Would you consider a real estate agent, a good real estate agent if he doesn't say anything when he sees his co-worker in cahoots with a house inspector and a loan officer at a bank making shady deals? I wouldn't. Why are the cops who don't say anything when their co-workers abuse citizens and inflict material damage different? Everyone one of them who doesn't say anything is not a "good cop".