Stay inside, D.C. residents, it's playtime for the "professionals"

The Washington Times editorializes about the drunken mayhem that generally ensues when armed off-duty lawmen annually come to the capital to celebrate National Police Week, then rightly wonders why the many cops who decide to misbehave (to put it kindly) during their visit to D.C. never seem to be held accountable for their crimes, unlike the wrath that would descend upon a regular citizen who got popped for doing the same stupid stunts that the visiting cops pull:

"The dangerous activity is not limited to automobiles. Drinking while carrying sidearms is an annual part of the celebrations. A few years back, one inebriated officer tripped out of a bar in Chinatown and unloaded his pistol on the bell tower of nearby St. Mary, Mother of God Catholic Church.

At Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium two years ago, four officers from Signal Hill, Calif., made a public spectacle of themselves at a Nationals-Braves baseball game. With little regard for safety and even less concern for their appearance, these law enforcement officers were chugging down beers while in full uniform with their pistols on their hips and spare bullet clips on their utility belts."

Those officers weren't even questioned, much less arrested and charged. In fact, this was a perfect example of the "blue wall of silence" coming into play:

"At least two concerned citizens called the Signal Hill Police headquarters, were assured that the incident was being looked into, and then received no follow-up despite attempts to discover if any disciplinary action had been taken."

And we're constantly being told that these are the only people "professional" enough to carry firearms in public. The rest of the peasantry would probably only do something incredibly stupid should they be "allowed" the same "privilege" in the District, and proceed to get wasted out of their minds and act the fool while carrying their deadly weapon.