DC Police Misconduct: Over 100 Arrested, 47 Convicted in Last 5 YearsLily Dane More than 100 officers have been arrested in the last 5 years in D.C. Most of the arrests involved alcohol-related traffic offenses or domestic violence. These revelations have quite rightly caused great concern in our community. The police wield immense power and responsibility, and we count on them to keep us safe. The abuse of that power by even one officer hurts the reputation of all of our officers. Chief Lanier emphasized several times that the first line of defense against misbehaving cops is the public, and said that citizen complaints are their biggest deterrent: Community members calling in and telling us something is not right and alerting us some conduct of a police officer is our first line of defense. Lanier is now making all recruits take lie detector tests, and is moving to put body cameras on officers: Police agencies across the country are moving to the body camera system because it is one additional way for us to have accountability. Being forced to rehire members who are not fit to wear our badge hurts the morale and performance of the entire police department, and does a disservice to the community we are sworn to protect. Kris Baumann, head of the police officers union, called the arrest numbers indefensible and said the union has long sought changes, including in hiring and retention standards: If there is one bright spot that District residents can take away from this unforgivable series of arrests and convictions, it is that the rank-and-file police officers are outraged by it and they will not tolerate it. There is no wall of silence; there is no effort to minimize the seriousness of these problems. Lily Dane is a staff writer for The Daily Sheeple, where this first appeared. Her goal is to help people to Wake the Flock Up! 