Outside the Beltway

Outside the Beltway

A Good Question

Steve Verdon
3

In this post about the unprofessional nature of the Chicago Police Department Radley Balko asks a very good question.

You know, regular citizens accused of wrongdoing often get their names published in the newspaper. Why not police officers? And why in particular not police officers who’ve garnered ten complaints over five years?

Sounds like a damn good idea to me. And keep in mind that this is part of a larger story about the widespread unprofessional nature of the Chicago PD. We aren’t talking about a few officers, or even a few dozen, but about 662 officers in a department of over 13,000 (about 5% of the force has ten or more complaints filed against them).

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3 responses to “A Good Question”

  1. Bithead Avatar
    Bithead

    On the other hand, you’ve just given those who would like to defeat the police department (regardless of their doing the job correctly or not) a tool with which to do it. Somehow I have difficulty accepting that as a good thing.

  2. Steve Verdon Avatar
    Steve Verdon

    On the other hand, you’ve just given those who would like to defeat the police department (regardless of their doing the job correctly or not) a tool with which to do it. Somehow I have difficulty accepting that as a good thing.

    Oh well. I think the police have brought this problem on themselves with the “thin blue line” mentality.

  3. Wayne Avatar
    Wayne

    I for one would like to see that regular citizens accused of wrongdoing not have their name publish until they are found guilty.

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