"I've never been a police officer, but I've had some in the family. Their job is a lot like that of a systems administrator, in one specific way that's of import here: you don't get credit for your successes, because they're mostly only visible to people in your profession, but your failures are obvious to everyone."
Excellent point. It's why I always qualify these reports with "some police departments, officers, etc" or "the corrupt cops." I make sure to differentiate between the lethal ones and those doing anywhere from non-lethal abuse (eg overticketing) to those doing a good job. Let's show some gratitude that the good ones are good and the bad ones are usually not that bad.
I'm not sure it is very useful to frame the matter in terms of gratitude; I might say rather that, in rightly condemning the actions of those officers who do abuse their office, we must take great care not to overreact at the expense of supporting those who faithfully discharge their oaths to serve the communities we all share.
Excellent point. It's why I always qualify these reports with "some police departments, officers, etc" or "the corrupt cops." I make sure to differentiate between the lethal ones and those doing anywhere from non-lethal abuse (eg overticketing) to those doing a good job. Let's show some gratitude that the good ones are good and the bad ones are usually not that bad.