Let's stop saying bad police officers are rare. Fact is they're plentiful from coast to coast.

[DirkGently]

43. Fishy logic, I'd say. And part of the problem here.

I can think of no reasonable way anyone could determine that "just over half of cops beat their wives," so that's a specious thing to even conclude. Half of male cops? Half of married male cops? Half of male, married cops where the domestic violence is reported? How would someone even track such a thing?

Cops as a group do have issues statistically of course. The real number, I think is that the domestic violence rate is about double in police families. Alcoholism and suicide are also high. Lawyers statistically drink, doctors and nurses are more likely drug addicts. No demographic, job, religion, or race is safe if we can all read statistics and decide who the "good" and "bad" people are. It's no different than the bigots who want us all to conclude that high rates of "black on black crime" mean a 12-yr-old should expect to be shot dead for holding a toy guy. Domestic violence, by the way, is worst of all for black women in America. Where does "simple logic" take us from there?

I think that whole line of thinking is part of the problem. It urges prejudice and hate and points to no solution.

Again, you can't get rid of "most cops." You can weed out the worst when you find them, but if you want long-term solutions, you need systemic change, not assumptions by anyone about who is "good" and "bad."