I’m something of a libertarian, and libertarianism is about fighting big government. Usually when push comes to shove, it’s law enforcement officers who are the point of the government’s spear. So it would be easy to hate cops.
I try not to, though. Most of the cops I know seem like pretty decent folks doing a job that I couldn’t do. They don’t invent the rules, they just have the crappy job of enforcing them. So I try not to hate cops.
But sometimes, they don’t make it easy for me. For example, I think I hate these cops:
Last December, I posted about a botched SWAT raid on an innocent Minnesota family. Acting on bad information from an informant, the police threw flash grenades though the family’s windows, then exchanged gunfire with Vang Khang, who mistook the police for criminal intruders. Seven months later, no one in the police department has been held accountable for the mistakes leading up to the raid.
However, this week Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan and Mayor R.T. Rybak did give the raiding officers medals and commendations for their bravery in nearly killing Vang Khang, his wife, and their six children.
Radley Balko has the whole story.
Update: I’ve read a few more stories about this, and I may have to back down. It sounds like the SWAT team was acting on bad information from the Violent Offenders Task Force. They wouldn’t have had reason to question the Task Force’s determination that a raid was justified. The officers that were shot do not appear to have been at fault. In that case, they deserve their medals.
To the department’s credit, at least they aren’t trying to put the homeowner in jail for shooting at them, or planting drugs on him as certain other departments might have done. These days, that makes them honorable professionals.
frank says
Their 100% criminals the the worst people I ever seen, In chicago they work for big crime ring, Their is a Chicago crime loose in Chicago I’m sure they do this all the time because its so easy to do, They get fake victims to make false police reports, They get fake witnesses to make false police reports they plant evidence, commit crimes right in the area to the person their framing,( 3 crimes within 50 feet from my home were committed while this guy Cox was renting my basement) and listen on the persons cell phone to to find out where their going to be and to commit crimes their or make false police reports in that area and they listen in on cell phones to hear what the persons talking about to plan out their crimes this is all proven 100%. Then they got crooked cops doing the rest read above.
These criminals with the scanners cost the city millions of dollars and millions more with the lawsuits the city is going to get and the racist crooked cops are not going after them.
jack says
I know what you mean these people are so corrupt in unbelievable, Chicago is always known as one of the worst citys in the country, chicago is a hell hole.