One of these days I'll stop letting all the bad press about police officers and other law enforcement agencies get on my nerves. What am I getting all "bent out of shape over" now? Type law enforcement into any search engine and see what comes up in the list. Sure, there are a lot of pages about organizations, law enforcement schools, descriptions, and more. However, you're also going to find a lot more web sites describing police brutality, "crooked cops", and the latest conspiracy theories about how the police actually start the crime waves.
      Did you know the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) is responsible for the drug problem in America? According to one theory, the DEA brings the drugs into the country to sell to the pushers. Did you also know ALL law enforcement officers are trained to overlook crimes committed by white, middle-class citizens and only arrest minorities, especially if they're poor? They're also brainwashed to take justice into our their hands, go on ticketing sprees to gather money for the mayor's pet projects, and play one gang against another so they kill each other off. Everyone with a badge knows it's acceptable to use their badges to get out of speeding tickets, threaten their neighbors so they can do whatever we choose, and to get the drugs from the pushers (the drugs the DEA gave them) for their own personal use.
      I guess it's true. There just aren't any good cops out there any more. Everyone has a horror story about the police. It's not true, but it seems that way doesn't it? If someone is constantly having problems with the police, maybe it's them, not the police. If they've had any good experiences with the police, why not add those stories to their blogs and web sites? I'm not trying to make excuses, but maybe the officer who gave you a hard time when he pulled you over for speeding was having a bad day. If it happens once, he needs to be reprimanded. If he's constantly doing it, he needs to be fired. There are more serious things which need to be addressed and the officer properly punished ... including jail time if the law says it's appropriate. Law enforcement officers aren't exempt from the laws they're sworn to uphold.
      So what do ordinary citizens gather from the blogs and web sites? If they've never had any direct dealings with the police, they'd come to the conclusion every police officer is a Nazi with a badge instead of a swastika. In fact, one conspiracy theory is based around this idea. The police are only the legmen for a government which wants to rid the country of anyone but the white elite. Give me a break! I know officers who've died in the line of duty protecting minorities, prostitutes, the homeless, drug addicts, etc. They didn't do it because they were told "hey, we need some good press so these scum don't realize what we're up to". Why do all the bad guys get the press, yet you rarely hear about the officers ... those in the majority ... who do the right thing?
      If all you saw on the news and the internet were stories of the doctors practicing without degrees, amputating the wrong body part, giving patients the wrong medication, or working in the emergency room while intoxicated, would you become paranoid and never trust any doctor? If you're researching nanny services and all you find are stories about nannies kidnapping the children, abusing babies, or molesting young kids, would you ever hire a nanny? If you wanted to take a cruise and all you read was about the food poisoning, the spread of some illness among passengers, or how the cleaning crews steal from the passengers, would you ever take a cruise? So why are some people so quick to jump to the conclusion that everyone in law enforcement is bad because of a few bad cops?
      Not all men are abusers just because everyone you've dated or married was an abuser. Not all kids are juvenile delinquents just because every kid you know happens to be one. Not every priest is a child molester just because some of them have been. The same applies to law enforcement. Not all officers are bad cops just because you know one or two who should be asked to turn in their badges.