Quentin Tarantino
© Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP/GettyQuentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino made headlines last week when he was interviewed by Entertainment Weekly and Howard Stern. During those interviews, Tarantino stuck to his guns about his recent comments about police by saying he "completely rejects" the "bad apples" argument that only a small number of police officers behave inappropriately on the job.

Is Tarantino right? Are there any good cops left?

Here is a quick two-question quiz for you to try on anyone you know in law enforcement, to see if he is one of those rare, possibly mythical creatures known as a "good cop." These are people you know and feel comfortable asking - we at The Free Thought Project do not advise speaking to police officers if not necessary:

1) Have you ever witnessed a fellow officer committing a crime?
2) If so, what did you do about it?

The honest answers, for almost every cop in the country, are "yes" and "nothing." There are a few—very, very few—former cops who can say "yes" and "I reported it." And that's why they are former cops: because they "betrayed" the Bullies in Blue, because they still had some affinity for truth and justice. And if, as a cop, your loyalty to your fellow gang members—no matter what they do—doesn't outrank silly things like principles, then you're toast. If you're lucky, you'll merely be fired.

Is there any cop in the country who can honestly say that he has never witnessed a fellow officer committing a crime? Frankly, no. The seriousness of the crimes may vary, but absolutely all cops break the law (just as almost everyone else does). For example, how often do you see cops driving the speed limit? And how often do you see state troopers doing 20 over the limit? While speeding may be a relatively trivial offense, it does show the mentality of the badge-wearers. If they catch you doing it, they will turn on those red and blue lights (which, as everyone knows, means "stop or we will hurt you"), and then they will rob you by way of a "citation." Meanwhile, when they speed, or drive like idiotic maniacs, they know that no one is going to ticket them.

For an example of the mentality of the Bullies in Blue, check out this rare exception, where a cop did ticket another cop:

So, the cop who was caught and ticketed for speeding posted a comment condemning and insulting the cop who ticketed him, saying, "Thanks for showing absolutely no regard to a fellow Officer (me) when he properly identifying (sic) himself." The speeder even confessed, "I'll admit I was traveling a lot faster than what you wrote me for." He then brags about the fact that he has "NEVER, EVER written a cop a ticket." And note the caption above the comment:
"This was recently posted on Martin County Sheriff's Office Forum. This should never happen. The victim? A veteran cop from PBSO."
So this badge-wearing criminal views himself as a victim for having been ticketed for breaking the law—even while admitting that he was shown lenience. This attitude is not at all unique among badge-wearers. And it certainly isn't limited to speeding tickets.

Pick any story—of which there are hundreds—where video eventually surfaced showing cops abusing or murdering unarmed people, and then lying about it in their reports, often arresting the victim of the abuse (if he lived long enough to be arrested) based on purely fabricated charges. In almost every case, other cops are either joining in, or standing around watching. So where are the "good cops" who try to stop it? Or at least report it? And for all the times police abuse is caught on film and exposed, how often does it happen without them getting caught? Planting evidence? Lying under oath? And when a major conspiracy is exposed, relating to cops running their own organized crime operation—like the narcotics division of the Philadelphia police department getting caught dealing drugs and running an extortion racket—are we really expected to believe that none of the other cops knew about it? So where are the "good cops" arresting the criminal cops for their crimes? (Cue the crickets.)

In case some people still want to imagine that police abuse is a matter of "isolated incidents" committed by an occasional "bad apple," go watch ten or twenty police abuse videos, keeping an eye on the other cops on the scene. Do they do anything to stop it? Just as importantly, do they look at all shocked and surprised to see it happening? Or do they look like they are watching some run-of-the-mill, routine daily event in the life of an American "law enforcer"? If they look that way (as they almost always do), it's because that's the reality of the situation: all cops are criminals, all cops know that all other cops are criminals, and almost never does the mythical "good cop" magically appear and do something about it.

So once again, feel free to try these two questions on any cop you know—whether in person, on internet chat boards, where ever—and see if you can get honest answers:

1) Have you ever witnessed a fellow officer committing a crime?
2) If so, what did you do about it?

Robert Higgs, an American economic historian and economist, sums up the current problem with police in America:
The whole Good Cop / Bad Cop question can be disposed of much more decisively. We need not enumerate what proportion of cops appears to be good or listen to someone's anecdote about his uncle Charlie, an allegedly good cop.

We need only consider the following:

(1) A cop's job is to enforce the laws, all of them;
(2) Many of the laws are manifestly unjust, and some are even cruel and wicked;
(3) Therefore every cop has to agree to act as an enforcer for laws that are manifestly unjust or even cruel and wicked.

There are no good cops.