Pre-law school I worked for a courthouse and was still of the (head up your own ass) opinion that individual bad cops could be replaced by cops who wanted to do good and if enough good cops joined they could outnumber the bad while we work to fix a “broken” system.
Two experiences that forever shifted my outlook are this:
1. I had the opportunity to go on ride-alongs with the sheriffs department. Those deputies turned on sirens to scare people walking down the street. One catcalled a woman crossing the street holding what I assume was her boyfriend’s hand. These cops were assholes, and it dramatically lessened my opinion of them as people but I still chalked it up to these individuals and not their jobs, until we went with writ services to serve an eviction notice.
I was terrified about what escalation could occur with such assholes handling it, and was relieved the person wasn’t home and the notice was taped to the door. But I knew even then that it wasn’t just escalation I was afraid of, it was having to look that person in the eye while the cops taped a probably life-destroying piece of paper on their door.
2. A trans woman had been attacked in the county jail and a picket protest was planned for outside the front doors of the jail. I knew the risks of attending while working at the courthouse down the street but obviously drawing attention to heinous abuse was more important than maintaining good relationships at work, and surely the decent cops and court officials would respect my choice to side with justice.
And then I saw them. While a group of us stood in work clothes with little paper signs chanting about injustice, the cops were decked out in riot gear, waiting to beat our asses. We hadn’t blocked a road. We didn’t have bricks. No one was in bloc—most of us had our faces out as recognizable colleagues—and still they were prepared to beat us senseless for demanding an end to mistreatment in a “justice” building. I met eyes with people I knew and liked yet they, in that moment, were indistinguishable from the ones I hated.
Yes of course the cops who “abuse” their power and harass people are vile, but at the end of the day, the friendly cop I ate lunch with showed up to kick my head in. The cops who have ice cream with the neighborhood drag people crying from their homes. The cops who do community charity work fall in line behind the “bad” cops. They beat protesters, they attack homeless camps, they destroy donated food and water, and they will do it all to you even while calling you a friend because they were ordered to, because it’s their job.
If every bad cop was replaced by my lunch buddy, absolutely nothing about the role of police would change.
