While we at The Federalist Papers Project strongly stand behind our upstanding police officers, we admit that they sometimes — rarely, mind you — fail to meet expectations.

Take for instance the Methuen Police Department in Massachusetts, which reportedly “gave higher points to applicants who said they wouldn’t arrest a family member or an officer they knew” who had been caught engaging in drunken driving.

As a result, job applicants like Michael Phillips, 26, were bypassed.

“The City turned the interview process upside down,” Christopher C. Bowman, chairman of the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission, wrote in Phillip’s case. “There is simply no valid basis to award the highest points to candidates who express a willingness to apply one set of rules to strangers and another set of rules to friends and family members.”

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According to The Boston Globe via Jonathan Turley, the department basically rewarded those aspiring cops who were willing to turn the other way in the face of corruption.

What’s even more shocking is the faulty logic they used to defend this stupidity. According to reports, for instance, when Phillip answered that “he would arrest his mother and father if he caught them driving drunk,” he apparently made department officials skeptical.

“This answer appears insincere and sounds like Mr. Phillips is trying to respond in the way he thinks the panel wants him to respond,” a letter regarding the department’s decision not to hire him read.

Furthermore, during a commission hearing, Police Lieutenant Michael Pappalardo (pictured below) bluntly admitted that “he wouldn’t believe anyone who claimed they would arrest their family and friends.” (H/TPhotography Is Not A Crime)

This not-so-bright lieutenant seemingly believes that wannabe cops must possess a certain degree of corruption within them.

That makes zero sense whatsoever, but judging by his rhetoric, Pappalardo doesn’t have any common-sense to begin with!





