Which is the true face of the police?

OC Weekly: Illegally Park-ed.

So if you live in Washington State, you've probably had the names of Mark Renninger, Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold, Greg Richards, and Timothy Brenton etched in your mind. Well, if not, these are the names of five policemen recently assassinated in the Seattle area. The first four were gunned down in a coffee shop in Lakewood, WA on November 29 by a felon who decided he wanted to go out in a blaze of...something. The fifth was executed by a deranged former security guard with delusions of persecution.

I've had a hard time with the media saturation of these two events. Yes, sure, we are shocked by any murder in the Seattle area, as we have a low murder rate. Losing a parent, spouse, and friend so suddenly is, of course, awful when it happens to anyone. But, really, why is a death of a cop any more traumatic than the death of anyone else? I am sure these five were good cops and decent people--at least, if the truth were different, we'd never discover it now.

But given the generally poor behavior of police these days, it amazes me more that before Timothy Brenton, it had been thirty years since a cop was assassinated in this state. For example, take the case of this douchebag in Irvine, CA--David Park. He got caught stalking strippers and exchanging sexual favors in exchange for not citing them for speeding.

Given the cop's inevitable acquittal (because we are conditioned to adore cops and loathe strippers, apparently), I'm given to believe that this is far, far more commonplace than you hear about. Because what stripper is going to press charges against a cop and draw the rage of all of his buddies in blue if this is the kind of shit that happens?

What I want to know--and will never be allowed to find out: what is the ratio between the five cops murdered (ostensibly) and cops like David Park?

Also, young women, take note: This is yet another reason why it's not a very good idea to go into sex work. Cops pretty much have free reign to abuse you.