Comment: Bad apples, yes, but it’s the US system that keeps them on the force

The experience of the best and most engaged community policing programmes suggests that what well-trained officers bring to situations – including the prospect of force – can help keep the peace. — AP

AS so many progressive-minded policing experts have noted, the stars are aligned in a once-in-a-generation moment for major systemic reform in the United States. The inclination to shoot for the moon and stars is more than understandable: If not now, when?

I am not a professional student of policing. As a former US attorney, I have spent time with good cops and with not-so-good cops, and I have prosecuted bad cops whose crimes were particularly repugnant to civil society.