"Us" versus "Them"

That's an attitude that has a distinct advantage during wartime, but it's not such a good thing for police officers, who are (at least officially) regular old Joes, just like the rest of us peasants.

The most recent graduating class of the Idaho State Police Academy, which apparently has an ex-military class president, would do well to remember that fact, although they're not getting off to a very good start.

You see, the slogan that they picked for their class, and the one prominently displayed in their graduation program, was "Don't suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it."

This is the very mindset that gets innocent people as well as cops hurt, for example when black body-armor clad "soldiers" invade the wrong house and get shot for their trouble, all because they couldn't be bothered to do any intelligence beyond what a confidential informant told them, in an unnecessary no-knock raid in a non-emergency situation. It's not an objective, people, it's someone's home.

Another example would be the execrable website "Cops Writing Cops", where petulant cops go to whine and cry about professional, ethical officers who ticket them and their families for the offenses they commit, instead of letting them go with a wink and a nod.

To his credit, Jeff Black, the superintendent of the academy, has apologized for the slogan, and has promised to vet all future submissions. Hopefully, the class has also learned that "they" and "we" are on the same side.