I'm glad these two police officers got fired. I'm also glad the Court of Appeal affirms.
Did the officers do the most horrible things in the universe? No. They didn't kill someone, they didn't violate someone's civil rights, etc. There are definitely worse officers out there.
But am I pleased that the officers seem to be far more interested in playing Pokemon Go while on the job rather than actual police work? No, that does not make me particularly happy. That's not what I want our police officers to be doing while they're working; particularly in a high-crime area. I'd much rather our tax dollars pay for you to chase bad guys than to run around capturing fictional animated creatures on your mobile phone.
I'm also not pleased that these officers deliberately decided not to back up another cop when he requested assistance. But perhaps most damning, to me, is the fact that they lied about all of the above -- and we're fairly confident of that, because there's video evidence from the camera in their police cruiser that shows the truth. Lying is bad to begin with, but when we know you lie about even small things (like Pokemon Go), I suspect that you might well lie about much bigger things as well.
And police officers are far too much in a position of trust to have people there who we know lie about even tiny things.
So feel free to play Pokemon Go on your own time, or to not back up other people just because you don't like them (or feel lazy).
Just don't be a cop.
