Outsourced to “Patrick Nielsen Hayden:”:http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/013257.html

bq. I don’t reflexively think ill of all cops, and in my 27 years in New York City I’ve had some interactions with local cops who seemed impressively decent, grounded, and on-the-ball.

bq. But I would really like someone to convince me that “this”:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/nyregion/officers-unleash-anger-at-ticket-fixing-arraignments-in-the-bronx.html demonstrates anything other than widespread and deeply-felt contempt, by the NYPD, for the law and for the everyday citizens of this city.

bq. It’s not the fact that 16 police officers were indicted in the Bronx for ticket-fixing and other chicanery, it’s the fact that their arraignment was greeted by over 100 off-duty officers swarming the courthouse and physically blocking reporters from covering the event:

The assembled police officers blocked cameras from filming their colleagues, in one instance grabbing lenses and shoving television camera operators backward.

bq. This is far worse than anything any of the Occupy groups have done. Where are the helicopters, the tear gas, the tasers, the rubber bullets being deployed to pacify this threat to public safety? Oh yeah. They’re in the hands of “these guys”:http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/10/29/nyregion/YARRESTS1/YARRESTS1-popup.jpg.

bq. It’s almost like they’re “incapable of self-governance and unable to maintain the place in a safe condition”:http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_19163740.