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Ah. So it's basically a "guilty by association" type of argument. Despite doing everything in your power to be a good cop, by being employed by the same place that employs a bad cop/bad cops, you're a bad cop.
I... have mixed feelings. I could have some bias because my brother is to study at the university to become a cop. He's a humble, standup guy. Again, possible bias, and it's anecdotal, but I didn't think ACAB before learning he was to study to become a cop, either.
It just doesn't make sense to me that everyone that looks to become a cop is that type of power hungry snake/murderer that you sometimes see in videos. Some people just want to serve and protect their community. Some just want the excitement of booking bad guys. Some have their own unique reason for becoming a cop. And some seek an outlet to exert power over innocent people. But not everyone, I just can't believe that.
I guess it boils down to a definition of "bad" in the end? To me, it feels unjust to treat all cops the same just because they are all cops. Bad apples should be treated as bad apples, and good ones as good apples. In the end, the good apples are fighting a good fight IMO, and people in all lines of work sometimes have to work alongside people doing less good than them, or just straight up evil.
No, it's not a "guilty by association" type argument.
I don't necessarily subscribe to the ACAB argument. It seems that way in the US, but I don't have any direct experience with that. In Australia I've never encountered a bastard cop, nor even heard of an experience like that, aside from a few instances I've heard of in the media.
I think it comes down to the prevalence of misconduct.
In some police services there may indeed be just one or two officers who are bastards and in that case you're obviously not a bastard just because you work in the same service provided you're not actively covering up their behavior.
In other services where there's a culture of violence and cronyism et cetera, it would become impossible to serve the community without at least passively condoning the misbehavior of others. This is the situation where one could like at the entire service and say, that all of them are bastards even if they're not directly perpetrating violence.
ACAB isn't just about police brutality though. Isn't Australia's surveillance situation pretty bad? I include that sorta stuff.
Also, assuming you aren't yourself Aboriginal, those folks seem to feel (based on a quick web search) suppressed from speaking out about the violence and harassment they experience from Australian cops.
Australia's freedom score is better than the US.
There are a myriad of social issues faced by First Australians (Aboriginals) including police brutality. Any summation I would try to give would be reductive given the complex history and various mitigation strategies that have occurred.
However, as I pointed out earlier it's the prevalence of misbehavior amongst officers that determines whether it's possible to be a police officer without passively condoning that sort of behavior.
Perhaps the behavior of Australian Police warrants the ACAB label in your view, it doesn't in mine.
This all makes sense to me. 🤝
That's a good word I learned today. Thank you for that one.
And thanks for this productive exchange. Exactly what I was looking for. ❤️