When cops go bad

Whenever there’s some gun-related massacre or crime spree, you have the usual cries for tighter gun-control. One of the things this hysterical reaction overlooks is the fact that it’s not just civilians who sometimes go bad. The folks on the other side of law enforcement can also go bad.

For instance, those who work in narco units are susceptible to bribery. If a drug “kingpin” can pay you far more than you make as a policeman, then there’s a real temptation to sell your services to the highest bidder. We certainly see this in Latin America. “Serpico” is another case in point.

Due, moreover, to the “Blue Code of Silence,” if a kingpin can bribe a few policemen, that makes it easier to turn the others. Policemen need each other to watch their back. It’s dangerous to be the odd man out on the force.

Yet, when police go bad, you don’t hear the usual groups demand that we prohibit policemen for arming themselves–or impose other restrictions police powers.

To the liberal mindset, civilians are inherently untrustworthy, but gov’t is never untrustworthy–at least as long as Democrats remain in power.