Originally posted by SteveElektro:
theyre abusing a position of power, much like a paedophile teacher or priest.
that is a totally incorrect generalisation. the police force and the law, while sometimes flawed, are an incredibly important part of the world - and without the laws we have today the world would revert to chaos, and war between political/religious/racial groups, ala mad max style.
i would agree that some police get the job because they intend to abuse the power, and maybe some police officers become corrupt over time, but corrupt police are still a minority. there are corrupt people everywhere. if you get on a reasonably full bus, youre staring at a smorgasboard of people, and for all you know every single one of them could be corrupt or participating in illegal activities that in involve abuse of power/authority. but if you look at a busload of police, i would think there'd be a much lower percentage of corruption.
if a police officer takes some drugs from a dealer for himself, as far as im concerned its a victimless crime - if nobody knows it cant hurt anyone.
oh, and on another note, dont you agree that everybody bends the rules of their profression/job to help out either themselves or friends? people at maccas give free food to their friends at the expense of the company. ill bet similar activities like this exist in virtually every profession where its possible to do so. its a very illegal activity to give out free food, its classified as stealing, and some people abuse the position so much that if caught theyd be facing a hefty fine/sentence (for instance every year at david jones 8 million bucks worth of stock disappears). do you think your friend is corrupt when he gives you a free cheeseburger? or at the cd store when you buy a cd, take it home and burn it, and then successfully return it claiming dislike? i think not. sure police are in a slightly different position to the maccas worker but theyre the same fucking people with the same human tendencies.
[ 19 September 2002: Message edited by: melancholic ]
[ 19 September 2002: Message edited by: melancholic ]