Salt Lake Tribune editorial cartoonist Pat Bagley has offended the Virginia Police Benevolent Association with a recent cartoon depicting how children see police officers. The association wrote a statement in the News and Advance (Lynchburg, VA) where the cartoon ran:
During my 25 year law enforcement career and during the time I have been Executive Director of the Virginia Police Benevolent Association I have never before seen the level of unprofessionalism and ineptitude displayed by the author of that inappropriate cartoon, or the media that choose to distribute it. Instead of working of solutions to real issues in a constructive way they have chosen to fan the fires of hate and racism, serving no constructive purpose.
The Virginia Police Benevolent Association stands in full support of all law enforcement professionals, confident that the voice of reason will soon be heard above the rhetoric of hate and distrust.
I guess one could argue Pat lumped all professional law enforcement together in one cartoon to make a point, but I find that an unmoving argument based on the “the level of unprofessionalism and ineptitude” (and that’s putting it nicely) of some police officers around the country that have brought police behavior under the microscope.
I totally agree with you, sir. The cops have brought this attitude about them upon themselves.
Well, as their letter clearly states “The Virginia Police Benevolent Association stands in full support of all law enforcement professionals” including ALL the bad cops, whether a very few or a depressingly dominant percentage. In fact, based on that statement, The Virginia Police Benevolent Association is totally Pro-Bad Cops.
Cops are racist fiends who love to murder little black kids. Wow. It’s hard to come up with a more ridiculously stupid cartoon than this one… and badly drawn too. Congratulations, Pat Bagley, you’ve hit bottom with this one.
Has any police association ( union ) publicly acknowledged that there are any “bad” cops?
Great point, Craig.
It’s strange. You’d think the good cops would be able to detect and catch the criminal bad cops operating in their midst.
This is exactly what an editorial is suppose to do! Nice job!