Unbecoming and improper' are terms I might apply to wearing scuffed shoes to a uniform inspection. Bruce Van Nelson has shat a steaming hunk of feces into the middle of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Assuming that the news story was accurate, Bruce Van Nelson's conduct was criminal. If you had done what Van Nelson did, you'd have been arrested, and might still be sitting in lock-up waiting for a trial. Unfortunately, we live in a country where New York cops can shoot an unarmed black man for reaching for his wallet without consequence, and Los Angeles cops are merely fired when they are caught framing Latinos and sending them to prison.
Peace officers are in a unique position in our society.
They carry guns, wear badges and wield the kind of authority that can send a mother back to her apartment while a young daughter is locked in the back of a squad car. On the other hand, Van Nelson's boss, Sheriff Nat Glover, has been presented with a unique opportunity to make a statement about the basic human rights of American citizens by cleaning out his catbox. Sheriff Glover, the first African-American sheriff in Florida since the Civil War is, by most accounts, a good man. He has established community policing. He established monthly Sheriff's Advisory Councils, where citizens can meet with officers to address issues specific to their neighborhoods.