regarding the cop message board:

among police officers, there is a very strong incentive to stand up for each other. while cyclists have this alliance to each other, primarily motivated by the similar dangers and obstacles we face while commuting/training, cops have this mentality to a much stronger extent. it is partly a matter of survival, part history, and part community just like us. the point is, when something like this happens, you will see a lot of cops defend the guy, even when it is obvious that it is wrong. this reduces credibility of police in the eyes of the public.

it is indeed unfortunate that the whole "serves em right crowd" and the police crowd unite on so many issues. bikers, drivers, or whoever it is that is offending the cop get pummeled, tased, tackled, etc. because of this desire to stand up for each other. usually it is the case of a bad apple, but instead of casting out the offending party, all cops seem to stand up for the guy no matter the situation. as such, more and more becomes acceptable (see bad apple metaphor). until this mentality breaks, you are not going to see a lot of cops support the victims when a cop does something wrong. sad but true.