There is currently a diary on the rec list that has this comment:
* [new] I don't know whether to thank you or not (1+ / 0-)
because you stuck up for Texas and the South against the bashers, but you're encouraging bashing law enforcement nationwide.
There are bad cops. That's not even an open question.
What happened in this case just reinforces that fact.
But there are also good cops -- and we never hear about them.
No allowance is ever made for their existence.
Cops are like teachers. They're underpaid, overextended, stressed to the max in service to crushingly complex rules. (Emphasis mine)
I emphatically disagree with this statement because I am a teacher. As a teacher I am held accountable for my student's performance in a completely transparent way. My certification test scores and number of test attempts can be found via an easy internet search. My salary and any bonus I earn is easily found via an internet search. Any complaint against me will be taken seriously by my principal, district superintendent, or the Texas Education Agency.
I am sure that no parent who ever went to complain about a teacher was threatened with bodily harm or loss of freedom.
Teachers are not allowed to hit students--forget restrain or beat them.
Teachers cannot threaten a student with anything more serious than a low grade, increased homework or a loss of privileges.
Teachers are often thought of as guilty until proven innocent. If a parent complains about me I have to prove that what that parent says is either untrue or misconstrued.
Teachers don't carry guns and don't testify in life or death situations.
In the case of the 12 year girl from Galveston who was beaten for being a black girl in her yard in a bad neighborhood, the cops are just plain wrong. The fact that the entire Galveston justice system has conspired to support those cops as evidenced by them trying her for assault screams police state. There are no arguments that support those cops. They deserve prison time, the girl deserves justice.
The problem is one of accountability. While John Q. Public has employed a strict rule of accountability with teachers, the same cannot be said for police officers. Until police officers are treated with the same scrutiny and made to uphold the same kind of transparency as teachers there will not be justice. When police officers routinely go to prison for breaking the law there will be a change.
UPDATE: Many comments seem to suggest that police officers should not be subject to any more transparency or accountability. This really throws me. If not more transparency and accountability how can we reduce the amount of police brutality?