All police should live by the laws they enforce

Good cops exist. Bad cops exist. Good cops who do bad things exist. We want to believe the majority of police are in that first category, that some fit that last descriptor and that only a rare few can really be labelled as bad cops.

No matter what is reported in the news around the country, it is important to remember that the facts point toward that rundown being true.

The truly bad cops are the ones who violate the rights of citizens and abuse their position of power for personal gain, pushing a political agenda or racist viewpoint. Or any combination thereof.

There are too many bad cops in this country right now because even one is too many.

Sadly, there are more good cops doing bad things than we’d like to believe. From most accounts, the tragic suicide of a Trenton officer was exactly that. A good cop and upstanding person who allegedly did some bad things and then got caught. When the investigation all shakes out, he likely will not be the lone person in the Trenton Police Department accused of illegal actions. His life came to a tragic end rather than facing the charges and that’s incredibly sad. Suicide is preventable and anyone with thoughts in that realm should ask for help by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

The salacious details of what he was accused of aside, we need to remember the heart of what happened is that police in Trenton are being caught allegedly breaking the law, while on duty.

Police need to be held to a higher standard than average citizens because they are public servants who take an oath to enforce the rule of law. Instead, some vocal police supporters believe things like engaging DWI and prostitution by officers should be swept under the rug.

Society will become a scary place if police officers are expected to get away with illegal activities because they can hide behind a badge and use their connections to get them out of trouble.

We all know the stories of officers getting pulled over for driving intoxicated or speeding and flashing their badge and being allowed to roll away with a “warning” for things that average citizens would be fined or jailed for.

The public deserves and demands better. Police officers should be the shining example of law and order that children look up to. So many of them are, and the ones that are not should be held accountable by the rest of the officers who do live up to that ideal.