Here’s something to be said about cops:

If the men in blue want to be seen and respected as the community’s protectors, they should first refrain from giving out badges, guns, and power to those with violent, abusive backgrounds.

Last December, LA Sheriff Alex Villanueva made the decision to rehire Caren Carl Mandoyan, an ex-cop who was previously fired in 2016 due to domestic abuse allegations against his girlfriend at the time.

This month, however, the Superior Court Judge, Mitchell Beckloff, overruled this decision and made Mandoyan surrender his badge, ending his career on the force.

The court’s intolerance toward keeping abusers on the force is a step in the right direction and something the country should be seeing more of in the future.

However, Sheriff Villanueva’s decision to rehire Mandoyan in the first place was immoral and irresponsible to the community he has sworn to serve. It also displays poor judgement of character, which leaves the question:

What other abusers have been hired to “protect” local citizens?

A policeman’s duty is to keep the peace and make the community feel safe. However, current media coverage shows that a number of these officers tend to do more assaulting than protecting.

There are countless reports of cops abusing their power, including unprovoked shootings and beatings, not-so-random pullovers, and of course the unwarranted arrests of innocent people.

If a person like Mandoyan can abuse someone they claim to love, imagine then what that same person can do with power over a stranger that happens to catch them on a bad day.

In general, people should always hold abusers accountable for their actions, and follow through with the proper consequences. This is a mindset that can be held through all aspects of life, especially when it comes to those who are given the power to inflict force in the name of duty.

Sheriff Villanueva’s decision to rehire Mandoyan is not an isolated innocent; it is a part of a much bigger problem.

The scale of police brutality in this country has become nothing short of an epidemic. The credibility of these blue lives are being questioned by the public almost every day, and if they want to change that, they should start by taking a look at themselves and the people they work with.

In translation: don’t give badges out to your abusive buddies in the force.