Saturday, December 01, 2007

Rule Adjustment

Given the astonishing number of police officers involved in criminal activity themselves or in breaking the rules I have a suggestion- rather than given them preferential treatment which has no basis in law (but which one can easily see happens nonetheless) why not increase the penalties for them? They are, after all, supposed to be upholding the law and therefore they should be held to a higher standard. If, for example, the sentence for stealing a certain item was, say, two years, let's say that if that same crime is committed by a cop they should serve three.

I'm sure that the police will champion such a plan- after all, if they haven't done anything wrong, they have nothing to fear; and as people sworn to enforce the law, they should be shocked and appalled when one of their own breaks the law and tarnishes the reputation of them all.

There is too the fact that these men with uniforms and badges and guns hold a certain place in our society- and to abuse their position, their power, is a betrayal of the public trust. A police officer who uses his position to prey on the people he is supposed to be protecting should not be tolerated in any way, shape or form. It's time that a zero tolerance policy was instituted to control those men and women who break the law rather than enforce it.

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