the collective "hard on" for first responders cultivated by the media and popular culture has inured

[datasuspect]

many to official misconduct or abuse of power on the part of civil authorities including police forces.

[PeaceNikki]

1. Case in point

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=299468

Frank Jude Jr. suffered a brutal beating on a street in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood early Oct. 24. Surrounded by a dozen men, he was kicked repeatedly in the head, stripped naked and threatened with a knife, his attorney said.

Authorities knew right away who was involved, but more than three months later no one has been charged or even arrested.

The suspects? Off-duty Milwaukee police officers who claimed Jude stole one of their badges. The officers said they had to subdue Jude because he fought with them.

Witnesses tell a different story - that Jude didn't steal anything, that he wasn't resisting, and that the some of the crowd dragged him out of a truck and beat him maliciously.

Jude was arrested and taken by police wagon to the hospital - no ambulance was called. Prosecutors did not file charges against him, instead focusing on the off-duty officers' actions. In connection with the incident, four off-duty officers were suspended by Chief Nannette Hegerty, who declined to comment on the pending matter.

The investigation has been slowed by some officers who aren't fully cooperating, the district attorney said. A secret John Doe investigation was launched in an effort to get witnesses to talk.


Frank Jude Jr. is shown at St. Francis Hospital on Oct. 24, 2004 after being severely beaten early that morning.

[BlooInBloo]

2. More colloquially: Cops fucking suck.