Thin Blue Line

There is a false narrative being spread around the Internet (imagine that). In short, it says something to the effect, 'You cannot support law enforcement while at the same time criticizing the actions of bad acting/corrupt/rouge officers'. This is, of course, asinine.
Let me be perfectly clear; this is not an indictment of all law enforcement officers.
Police officers have an extraordinarily difficult job. (Heaven knows I'm not up to that task.) They deserve our respect and admiration. But with that respect and admiration comes a responsibility. A responsibility to protect and to serve the communities in which they are dispatched. What is not among their responsibilities is to act as judge, jury, and executioner. When an officer acts in a manner that demonstrates that he or she does not understand the difference, he or she must be held fully accountable.
Though it might sound trite, I believe it is true that the majority of police officers are good people who chose their profession because they wanted to help make the world a better and safer place. But as in every profession, among the ranks of the good, there exists a few bad actors.
At some point (now, hopefully) we need those good officers to summon up the courage to band together and cross that thin blue line to help purge their ranks of the bad actors that sow mistrust between local police and the communities they serve.