Former Fort Worth Officer Charged With Murder In Fatal Shooting Of Woman In Her Home

Before body cams (which most police depts resisted) the officers word was always taken as fact. Especially since often times the person being illegally assaulted or shot was a previous criminal. So it was a "who are you goingto believe, the cop orthe crook". Add to that the very strong "I've got your back" code amongstleos, and it was almostimpossible to hold a bad cop accountable. Plus, everycop learned early on that all he had to do was state "I feared for mylife" and he had a get out of jail free card.

Body cams and civilian cell phones are changing that. Now it is possible to see/hear an objective look at what happened. We are discovering that a lot of wrongdoing was going uninvestgated or unchallenged in the past. It's true that so called bad cops make up a mimority of the force. But I think it will be difficult to get real reform until the good cops not only refrain from bad actions themselves, but hold their bad peers accountable. Good officers still cover for or refuse to testify against fellow officers, due totheir code, and ostracize those that do. Until those cops realize they have a higher duty to the public than the bad cop, the problem will remain.

If the facts support the charge, make sure the verdict matches the crime.