The Criminal Police

So, some police officers have criminal convictions.

My God, what a great story for the media. It has everything. The hints of hypocrisy, fear of the police, the sudden public laundering of previously hidden dirty secrets. This story is tabloid heaven.

Except that it actually doesn't really matter. The vast majority of the convictions are for things like speeding. Sure, it is more worrying that some police officers have convictions for violent offences. Until you consider what those offences might be. Violence may be attacking someone and beating them to a bloody pulp with a baseball bat. It may also be far more minor. And given these officers were recruited into/kept their jobs in the police force and that they aren't in prison, I'd guess these offences probably were more minor.

There is also the concept of people having paid back to their debts to society, and that people can learn from their mistakes and actually move on. In fact, our justice system is based (in part) of this principle of redemption. Why should the police be treated differently?

In an ideal world, I don't think police officers should have criminal convictions. However, we don't live in an ideal world. And in this very real world, the police struggle to recruit decent police officers. And I'd rather have a police officer with the right skills, demeanour and attitudes and a conviction than have a police officer with no convictions but also lacking the right personality to actually go out and enforce the law.