Heroes in blue?

In Detroit, a 30-year veteran of the Detroit Police Force, a sergeant (now retired in South Carolina) has been implicated in at least five rapes of women between 1999 and 2003, and is suspected in many more. The charges come from previously-untested rape kits. Kept but unanalyzed for 27 or more years, by the police. This kind of thing explains why many Americans support a death penalty, why many more Americans support and practice keeping and bearing arms for their defense and that of others, and look with disgust and anger at government. Especially the police.

People like to worship (exault, praise, glorify, and serve in various ways) police. They are “first responders” who daily “risk their lives for those they serve.” Most people buy into the common cop vehicle motto “to serve and protect.” Serving them includes the well-worn meme of free donuts, free coffee, free soda (at least, free fountain soda), and discounts. More and more people allow the cops access to and use of their doorbell cameras (internet-connected).

They are, to many people, their “heroes in blue.” Of course, to others, they are jack-booted thugs. To those people (many of whom are libertarians and even minarchists), the subject of the motto “to serve and protect” refers to the powers-that-be (the politicians and their cronies) and their own rear-ends and brothers in blue.

It is nothing new: the definition of “honest cop” as “one who stays bought” is very old – probably as old as coining the word “cop” (short for copper, apparently from their metal insignia). The cruelty, abusive nature, corrupt, and downright evil reputation of police officers has been seen throughout history: far before the Western concept of “police” even existed.

We here at TPOL do point out that there are police officers who are honest, gentle, kind (especially to children and animals), oath keepers who do strive to live and work in a manner that matches the official description of their responsibilities. Sadly, to be sarcastic, the officers who are decent and good have their reputation ruined by the vast majority of their brother officers.

This belated discovery about the rape career of a senior police officer in Detroit is an example of how some police abuse their position, their power, their uniform, and their weapons. Because of their “hero status,” self-defense (and even more, someone coming to the defense of a woman threatened with rape) will be immediately condemned and almost certainly prosecuted or worse. Nobody maintains records about how many cops rape women each year, or how many women rapist cops abuse. But one source claims that police officers are being accused of rape at a rate of one per week: more than 300 in the five years before their June 2023 report (and over 500 sexual assaults). (www.thebureauinvestigates.com). The website www.police1.com > women-in-law-enforcement conducted a survey in the last six months which found that 77% of female police officers experienced sexual harassment in the workplace; other officers, supervisors, staff, and perhaps others. Yet, complaints were only a tiny fraction of the reported harassment, and there was no data on how many of these harassments were rapes.

Another website, https://mappingpoliceviolence.org, tracks police killings nationwide. In 2025, there were 1,382 total killings by police. So far (January-February) in 2026, only 203 people were killed by cops, 20 fewer than this time last year. In 2025, only 111 “law enforcement” officers died in the line of duty – not all killed by other people, since it includes death by traffic accidents and other causes. (That, it is reported, in the lowest death rate for police in over 80 years, close to the 1943 death toll of 94. But you seldom hear, for example, that or the fact that police deaths were down 25% in 2025 from 2024. What you hear? How dangerous their job is and how horrible it is that our “first responders” suffer so much.

Some things to ponder as you watch that cruiser glide down your local street on the prowl.

(A private, local note: Five days ago, on the 21st of March, was the first time in 2026 that a cop in South Dakota shot someone. And they didn’t even kill the guy. The State Patrolman was apparently pursuing a stolen vehicle and the chase ended with the trooper shooting the driver and accused thief.)

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