Police Corruption Isn't Just Bribes on Speeding Tickets



This disturbing article reminds me of the scandal that brought down the government in Belgium a few years ago. The opening of the story captures the weirdness of this well:

France's latest public scandal reads like a cheap Hollywood thriller - except it's much more difficult to believe.



This real-life potboiler comes out of the southern city of Toulouse and involves a serial killer, allegations of corruption and perversion by cops, judges and other high officials, sado-masochistic sex parties in an elegant chateau and shocking revelations on prime-time television.

If the claims that are being tossed around are correct, a kinky serial killer received police protection because so many high officials were involved with him. This wouldn't be the first time; Henry Mayhew exposed the involvement of London police in Victorian England in ignoring child prostitution, kidnapping, etc., and the response of the larger society was to be outraged at Mayhew for bringing this to their attention. There have been a number of embarrassing examples in recent times in the U.S. such as Hollywood Division of LAPD in the 1980s, or NYPD (I think, any year).



Unsurprisingly, liberal gun control advocates get very upset when you point these depressing reminders of how widespread police corruption is, because being liberals, they know that we are right, but being gun control advocates (which is the larger motivator for them), they don't want to admit that limiting gun ownership to the police means that crooked cops have little to fear.