# Do police have an "us" and "them" mentality?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-have-an-us-and-them-mentality/733266>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 2, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-have-an-us-and-them-mentality/733266 "2015-10-02T15:23:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 18

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**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-have-an-us-and-them-mentality/733266/18 "2015-10-03T06:09:22Z")

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Remember all those cops who, _en masse,_ turned there backs on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio last year? At the very least, they all showed an “us vs. HIM” attitude. There were visiting cops from all over the country there too, who also joined in.

Discussed in some detail in [this Pit thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744639).

> [@And now: What about all those cops turning their backs on De Blasio?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-what-about-all-those-cops-turning-their-backs-on-de-blasio/708293/1):
>
> \< . . . snip . . . \>
> 
> This is nothing less than a mass insubordination on all their parts, bordering even on mass insurrection.
> 
> Police are rather well-known to support one another to the bitter end – the infamous “Blue Wall of Silence” and all that. (See: [Frank Serpico](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Serpico).) In fact, Frank Serpico speaks out on the Garner case. [The Police Are Still Out of Control. I should know](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/the-police-are-still-out-of-control-112160.html), Frank Serpico, _Politico,_ October 23, 2014.
> 
> In light of that, we need to worry about how safe we are when police act like that, especially _en masse._ They are basically declaring to the effect “It’s _us_ vs. all of _them_” That isn’t what we need our police to be doing, if their ostensible mission is to “protect and serve”. (Oh, protect and serve _who?_)

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