So apples grow in bunches?

[idiotgardener]

If most police really do try to protect and serve the public, why is it that so many "bad apple" scenarios involve a bunch of other officers standing around doing nothing?

Amadou Diallo was killed by 4 officers. Not a single one of them thought to stop the others?

The cop who pepper sprayed women in an enclosure at the Occupation protest was surrounded by other cops. None of them knew he had violated policy? Did they remove him from the scene so he could not do further damage?

You can see in the video from Oakland last night that the POS who tossed the flash bang device into the group trying to help the wounded veteran was in a group. Did the rest of the police arrest him?

The bad apple theory might be more believable if police present when these things happened tried to stop the situation or, you know, actually protect and serve the public.

[fascisthunter]

1. authoritarian minds have a very hard time not obeying

not an excuse, it just is that way.

Remember, those folks in riot gear should not be representative of all cops. I understand the anger, but making an argument for whole sale condemnation is wrong. There are good people in uniform. How many? What percentage, I do not know, and neither does anyone else on this site.

Those who tossed that flash grenade deserve prison.

[idiotgardener]

4. Let me remind you of a quote:

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

I know not ALL police are bad. But your argument is that it's contagious?

I didn't go to the police academy, and I would have known not to throw an explosive into that group. What good is their training?

[fascisthunter]

6. I do not think what you state I do

it is not contagious, it's a human flaw that it is abused by those who already know this. Authoritarians are very easy to manipulate is what I am stating.

[idiotgardener]

8. OK, but the result is the same.

[Orrex]

2. .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_responsibility">A possible, partial explanation.

Not excusing them--far from it. But the behavior is well known and fairly well established.

[a simple pattern]

3. Recced to 0, oddly.

And yeah, the whole thing about a few bad apples is that they spoil the barrel. Why do people always skip that part of the saying?

[idiotgardener]

5. D'oh!

I'm laughing. Basically all I did is restate it.

[REP]

7. Bushels, if you want to get technical; takes one bad apple to spoil the bushel

[Fire Walk With Me]

9. Mob mentality?