I respect what you're saying, Jer, even if I disagree with a lot of it. And there's no doubt I should've shot that guy. But I was afraid to because of what I knew I'd have to go through.

But this is a two-way street. Personally, in almost 15 years behind a badge I NEVER saw anything other than minor misconduct by fellow officers. Nothing that wasn't handled with a conversation that usually went something like, "Don't ever put me in that situation again because I'm not gonna take a hit for you doing something wrong." And, frankly, at least in this area I don't see that "blue line" of cops willing to blindly defend a fellow cop that's done something egregious. I sense that it's more that way in the big departments or cities out east or like Detroit or Chicago.

Maybe the tendency to initially give cops the benefit of the doubt (at least for me, anyway) comes from having "been there, done that". I've been in situations more than I care to remember where I'd acted appropriately but it was my word against some dirt bag's word and it's hard to prove your case. I REALLY take offense to the ignorance that says it's as simple as getting a pair of running shoes and calling for backup. That obviously comes from someone who is clueless to how the real world actually works. Sometimes, you can't call for backup for any number of reasons...or you can, eventually, but it's miles away. In the story I told above I was never able to actually make that call. The guy I was fighting knocked my radio out of my hand, into the darkness. After 6.5 mins a little old man finally stopped and called for help for me. The volunteer firefighters were on scene long before another deputy.

Some may not believe this but, in my experience anyway, the worst enemy to a cop who's done wrong is other cops. Nobody wants to work with that guy because it's hard to get rid of the stink.