More "Murder By Cop"

If I see a gang of armed, agressive people coming at me; guns drawn, I will not automatically assume that they are cops upholding "justice and liberty for all", or "securing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". I will assume that they are freelance criminals out to cause mayhem and death. Would you make a different assumption? I don't know a lot about the case of Sean Bell yet, but with this and similar cases I see the same scenario played out repeatedly in the news. Cops high on "authority", not in uniform, begin an attack on a regular person. When the person sees himself or herself being attacked by armed people of unknown intent, they try to fight back. The victim dies in the resultant one-sided shootout. Then the official cover-up begins, with the eager tail-wagging media spreading the official story far and wide. A badge carries with it a higher standard of behavior and a higher cost for misusing that authority. Guns and badges are a deadly combination.