Criminals On Patrol.

COP- Criminal(s) ON Patrol.

They use drugs, they sell drugs, they have sex with underage children, they have children take part in porn, rapes, and they shake down business for protection money, etc. These are our cities finest.

These are some of the various headlines that I have seen over the years regarding police and their corruption.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/07/30/75
_officers_failed_city_drug_tests/
http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/press_releases/20060504_Brian_Kniceley.html
http://www.cnhins.com/crime/cnhinscrime_story_320074437.html
http://www.podcastingnews.com/details/www3.sympatico.ca/
ron666/bcndpod.xml/view.htm
http://archives.xtra.ca/Story.aspx?s=15091692

It's never ending, and yet these are the people that we are suppose to turn to when things go wrong, when we have a problem, or when we need help. In many cases turning to the local thug for help and protection might be more useful or helpful than actually going to the police, and that is why many in society choose not to go to the police.

That is also the reason in recent times, many urban campaigns have really caught on regarding not snitching to the police. It's because many realise that the some cops in society are doing the same or worst than many criminals that are already in our society.
[http://www.slate.com/id/2132092/]

The other problem is that we have the police policing the police. It's crazy, it's like asking the mafia to investigate incidents of wrong doing, amoungst themselves. How many times do you think they are going to let one of theirs pay for misconduct? I have seen shocking reports that point to the lack of convictions against police, even when there are supposed "independent commissions" set up to review complaints.

In many cities there is truly no effective agency that is monitoring and protection the things that are being done by these criminals on patrol. The other problem is that this is not changing in society.

Police in many cities around the world, have a record of misconduct and inappropriate behaviors, they also seem to excel at their misconduct to minorities, the poor, and the homeless. It should be very little or no surprise then that these marginalised groups will often choose not to go to the police, or to corporate with them when asked to do so based on the experiences of
many in various societies.
http://www.labourcouncil.ca/serveprotect.html
http://ocap.ca/owoe/police/demoagharass

This increasingly unchecked behavior is why organisations have sprung up in an attempt to curb this behaviour. Organisation such as Cop Watch, now have citizens who actively walk around and patrol their cities to keep an eye on police and any misconduct that might be occurring. http://www.copwatch.com/

Other organisations have a list of police officers and the records of any complaints that have been filed on them and the outcome of those complaints. I personally think, every police force in the world should have a system in place like this.

Others were set up to stand up and speak out for the rights of those that have been
marginalised by these that are sworn to serve and protect themselves and their own.
It's really sad that this is the state of affairs for too many people in society that we are not only suppose to be able to trust, but we are suppose to look to as moral and ethical examples. We in many regards still grow up with the expectation that these men and woman who patrol our streets will be above reproach to some degree, that they will be moral pillars of society, and
more and more this is not the case.

Police officers are just people and at the end of the day, they like others are going to have problems, just like other members of society do. This is a fact, and it is fully understandable and it would be inhuman to not understand this. On the other hand however the average citizen on the street does not have the right to stop people on the street, pull them over, enter their homes, shoot them with a gun and a whole range of other things that police have the right to do.
So even though they are human and have the same problems that others do, we expect them to be far more accountable for their conduct, because with great power comes great responsibility, and being a police officer does to a degree put someone in a position of authority and power.

When these members of our society are corrupt, how can the rest of society expect to be not corrupted? When those we turn to in times are trouble are the ones that are causing the trouble, covering up for the trouble, or abusing their power, then how can the society expect to behave in a moral and upstanding way, when those we expect good behavior from do not?

Somewhere along the line some changes do need to happen, there need to be proper agencies set up to police the police, something to make them accountable for their actions. Once they put on that uniform, or flash that badge, or pull that gun, their culpability is not the same as the average citizen, nor would be expect it to be, however it should not give these officers free reign to abuse their power and authority over others, and this issue will have to be addressed
if things are ever going to change.

In the city where I live, we had a police office come out and advise that there was so much corruption on the force that if the truth of this ever came out it would embarrass a lot of people, from the lowest ranking officers, right up to the top brass. He reported these findings about some time ago, and thought that it would be a good idea, for the police to hire an independent
community, and investigate the matter themselves, this way they would be able to save themselves some embarrassment, however this does not seem to have stopped what many see as the corruption within the police force.
[http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2006/11/21/report-police.html]

No one expects these changes to happen over night, however these changes do need to happen, if this are ever going to get better, and if peoples faith is ever going to be restored in the people that are being hired to help patrol our streets and to help keep us safe.