These fucking people
Police should be at-will employees. The county executive should be able to fire any officer he wants, without cause.
Yes, an elected official could abuse this. But the elected official is accountable to voters. The police are currently a political force unto themselves, accountable to nobody.
One of many problems with the “bad apples” model of policing is it focuses on the moral failures of particular individuals rather than the way many people behave immorally when they are permitted to do so.
Lots of people would behave badly at work if they believed they would get away with it, but don’t because they don’t think they can. Better accountability wouldn’t just remove the worst officers, it would make each officer better.
