Originally published at: Former head of Boston Police Union pleads guilty to molesting at least six children | Boing Boing
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Something about foxes and chicken coups seems to come to mind.
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This is what happens when you trust authority.
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Pursuant to your attached image: few seem to remember that the full reading of the adage referenced is “one bad apple spoils the barrel.”
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Indeed. 
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CHMPTAHCBTW
Cops Have More Power Than Any Human Can Be Trusted With.
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all cops? all cops.
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This is what happens when you trust corrupt and unaccountable authority
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In the case of cops, we must modify the adage:
The barrel spoils the apples, & no apple remains untainted.
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Aw come on. He doesn’t have to go to prison, where it might be dangerous.
Have they considered transferring him to another parish?
Sorry, I meant “precinct”.
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The main takeaway for me:
This did not change the union policy or communication. They’re set to protect their members, period, against all accusations, not matter how well justified. Yet media reporting will continue to give weight to police union statements as if they have any sort of legal weight, when there is zero accountability nor any attempt to do so.
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If they put him in general population, he’s certainly not going to be in there for ten years.
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Isn’t all authority corrupt and unaccountable? I have seen very little indication that it is otherwise. ed:sp
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Cellphone home movies, featuring abusive cops…
That’s a good point. The barrel systematically rots the apples.
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I mean, perhaps if you’re American I can forgive the lack of imagination, but there are innumerable examples of governing bodies that embrace transparency, accountability, and genuine democratic processes to ensure that they remain true to their constituents.
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Are any of those bodies more numerous than police officers? Care to list any organizations with authority (that means the ability or the power to cause a gun to be pointed at you) that meet those high standards?
To answer your question, no i can’t think of authorities which use violence to assert themselves that meet those high standards. BUT, I certainly don’t think it’s impossible to imagine a policing body which could meet them. Even among violent authorities there’s a spectrum of the degree of corruption and dysfunction.
The problem is that power of any kind is inherently opposed to regulation, accountability, and transparency - so it necessarily has to be imposed from the outside. Police departments in the US are extreme examples of a model that effectively has none of these checks and balances.
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