> But maybe the ACAB crowd truly does think all cops are bastards.
I once had an interesting discussion with someone about this who had obviously thought about it a fair bit. Their position was that the institution is set up in such a way that your own intentions, regardless of how good, are systemically constrained into a narrow channel and the function of the job is to be "a bastard".
In other words, it wasn't a commentary of the nature of the people in the job, rather the nature of the job.
They do truly do think that. They don't mean that all are Derek Chauvin, but they mean that all circled the wagons around Chauvin. It was an obviously indefensible action, and he was still defended by his department, his union, and police around the country.
It was equally clear that he expected that from them, and that this was not his first case of abuse. This was merely the time when it became incontrovertible, because somebody had a camera and was willing to take the risk of filming it.
If they aren't going to stand up against abuse even when it's literally a murder caught on video, there's no way to avoid the conclusion that there are indeed countless other abuse cases that have been covered up, with nobody willing to stand up to it. It doesn't show the extent of the abuse but it shows the extent of police willing to cover up and excuse that abuse: universal. That makes All of them Bastards.
I think Adrian Schoolcraft [1] is another good example. He was a cop who reported abuses and corruption in the NYPD. For his efforts, the NYPD rewarded him with harassment and intimidation, which resulted in a $600,000 settlement when he sued them.
> I've had people try to tell me "all cops are bastards" actually means we need to do a better job policing the police, with a straight face.
That's like thinking someone might believe “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch” applies to police, or that the “broken windows” model of policing has the same cultural effect directed at the police that iats advocates say it has directed by the police at communities.
Or, more generally, that people’s ethics and conduct are responsive to the institutional incentives and cultural environment surrounding them.
Clearly, this is implausible; no one could believe any of that.
The most common interpretation I've heard for this phrase is a contrast to the "few bad apples" meme, because police consistently show solidarity in defense of those "bad apples." If you're getting beaten by a cop, and their partner is just standing by and watching it happen, they're both bastards.
That said... the cops who made the news for shoving other cops off from kneeling on protesters' necks? They were good cops in that moment. Even if they were doing it to protect their precinct from scandal.
ACAB is another poorly chosen slogan for its best interpretation. The most moderate explanation is that to bastardize means “to change something in a way that makes it fail to represent the values and qualities that it is intended to represent” - the rest of the implication can be assumed from there.
Poorly chosen slogans seem like they really hurt the movement. But maybe the ACAB crowd truly does think all cops are bastards.