Law Enforcement, like the military, is a certain brotherhood. They know how each other their fellow LEO's operates. They did what he would have done with them. If you think they are bad people for that, it's your opinion, but it's a disappointing one.
I began my term of service when Bush 41 was president and it continued into the beginning of the Clinton administration.
It was no secret that Clinton wasn't a friend of the military.
When Clinton turned tail and ran in the wake of Gothic Serpent the loathing for the man was absolutely palpable.
Imagine being an Infantryman sitting in the barracks on 9/11 watching those planes crash into the Towers and then your president's response to that was to disengage from the Middle East.
That probably gives you an idea how it felt in 1993 sitting in a day room in Germany cleaning weapons and watching MSG Gordon and SFC Shughart being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu by a crowd of booger eaters, and then having your president disengage from Africa. Probably not as big a shock, but probably the biggest thing an Infantryman of my era has as a basis for comparison.
We wanted to go kill every****ingbody, but the president ran.
So when President Clinton showed up in Baumholder in 1995 to send 2BD, 1AD to Bosnia as the maneuver element of Task Force Eagle (SOFOR I) the troops gathered could have been excused for turning their back on the president.
Right?
Because President Clinton was many things but when it came to being CINC of the Armed Forces the man was a complete and total dildo.
As you would probably
expect, the troops gathered there that day showed him nothing but respect. Cheered him in fact. I was no longer there but I'm still buddies with a number of guys who were and I've seen the pictures.
The troops conducted themselves with discipline and decorum because that's what was expected of them.
Never in a million years would they have even considered turning their backs on their boss in a show of disrespect.
Don't compare civilian police officers to the military.
They're absolutely NOTHING alike.
A Soldier's job is to accomplish the mission, no matter the cost to himself.
A cop's job is to come home safe to his family at the end of his shift, and if he can enforce the law in the mean time all the better.
I'm not saying that a cop's job isn't dangerous. I know it is. Not as dangerous as a fisheman's job, or a lumberjack's job, not even close, but it's more dangerous than being a pastry chef.
Cops don't have the discipline of Soldiers (any armed servicemember) and they sure as hell don't have the same dedication to the mission.
Are they the same kind of brotherhood as an Infantry rifle platoon?
Probably the closest thing a civilian can get, but even then a very distant second.
I served one four year enlistment and to this day I get together with my brothers on a yearly basis and we visit with each other intermittently throughout the year. There isn't a week that goes by that I don't talk to one or two of them on the phone, and we're all in daily contact on Facebook.
You think a cop who did one four year stretch on a department and then moved on to other things is still in touch with his old cop buddies that way?
I'd call you crazy if you even suggested it.