cops.

Cops. Short word. Small word. Also a four letter one to quite a few. Hell, I'm pissed off at 'em as much as any for past transgressions as a group. Problem is, I say "as a group". That's actually quite a big problem.
I know what you're going to say, though, cops is cops and cops is bad peoples. But that's where many people are wrong. Bad cops is bad peoples, and good cops...well, they just kind of get lost in politico's shuffle drawer, hidden away so that there's always a scapegoat. Mind you, I'm not saying cops in general are good, either. Cops is cops and individuals is individuals and quite frankly, cops is individuals just the same. Individuals can be good, individuals can be bad.

Okay, no doubt we've all heard about the most recent L.A.P.D. shooting. You know, the one involving little Susie Marie and her father, Jose Raul Pena. If you haven't turn on your TV, the fallout should be in full swing. And if that doesn't work, google the guy's name. And if you're too lazy to do even that, then I'll relate to you my take on what happened: Guy threatens to kill daughter, wifey calls cops, cops arrive, standoff ensues. Guy shoots at cops, some 60 rounds, according to witnesses, cops respond with 90 of their own, making it 150 rounds of 9 mm ammo in total.
Now I know that some of you are shaking your heads, thinking that 'the cops' could have done something different, maybe ducking for cover, or propping themselves up behind a car door, or a sheet of paper or something. But just consider for a moment, you are a sole individual, there with your friends, your acquaintances, and maybe some people you don't know, but know are on your side. Now, you're there, and this guy has been pointing a gun at you and his kid, alternating between the two, for over three hours. Then he decides to shoot. Three volleys, according to the media, are fired at you, and one of the people standing near you takes a bullet. What would YOU do? Remember, YOU are an individual during all this, you're not part of a group, you aren't leading, you aren't following orders. You decide your actions. YOUR individual life is in danger due to a madman.

Now I can't answer for you, but quite frankly, the guy's kid is not my problem. I'd open fire on him to protect myself from injury or death in a heartbeat. And I don't think there would be a jury in the world who would convict me as an individual citizen. So, why are we holding cops to a higher standard? They're individuals, deserving of perfectly equal treatment under the law. If they break those laws, they're individual criminals, if they uphold them, they're upstanding citizens. It's not that difficult, really. What makes people hate cops in general, I think, is the fact that cops, when they fuck up (Wooo, scary bad words there) and do something generally high profile in a bad way, they either end up thrown to the wolves, or they get shuffled to the back room and people pretend they don't know anything about soenso. That right there is why I'm so pissed off at politicians, using good people as political tools. Claiming 'training' or 'self disipline', or some other bullshit, as justification to play cops like cards, irregardless of whether the cop deserves a break, or not.
Cops is individuals, and individuals deserve to be treaded as such. We need to stop with the posterboys, the witchhunts, the political toying. Until we do that, bad cops are going to continue to make a mockery of the system, and good cops are going to continue to pay for acting like human beings.

Where's the justice in this justice system, again?