I back the concept of a strong police department with humane, properly trained peace officers who know how to put their bias aside when it comes time for them to do their jobs. Honestly I don't care if they have a bias against the disabled, or if they're racists, or hate Jews and Muslims. As long as they leave that stuff at home and not bring it to work. But the second they step over that line, then the entire blue line disintegrates. Because of the actions of any singular officer. They rise together, and they fall together.
I'll gladly offer a thirsty-looking officer a bottle of water if I see him in the neighborhood on patrol. But if I see that same officer stop someone on the street because he's walking while black, that's when I turn on the video on my smartphone. Police are not a singular infallible entity. They are a collection of individual personalities. When we demand that they be treated as a singular unit deserving of respect that the ENTIRE collection hasn't yet earned, then we justify how any ONE member of them can commit crimes against anyone who isn't one of them.
Humans are flawed creatures. We ALL have our weaknesses. Police are not immune to that, and it's time we stop putting them up on a pedestal. I've worked with the police, I've had to call the police for help in the past, I've been pulled over for speeding by the police, I've been friends with the police, my parents' best friend was a cop and he and his wife and my parents used to go out once a week for dinner. So I have no beef against "the police." My problem is with the individual officers, and the departments that protect them even when they screw up. They are the ones that give "the police" a bad name, they are the ones who need to be held accountable, and they are the ones who need to either be rehabilitated, or removed from the force.
No one is above the law. That includes the police.
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