As far as I am aware, there are no such documented incidents regarding the Boston Police Departments (which has, civil rights-wise, a pretty good record). However, there are numerous incidents almost exactly like these with the Chicago Police Department, and, given the series is set in Boston, the BPD sort of drew the short straw. Hence, with all due deference to the fine work the BPD is demonstrably doing, this had to be shown.
In an effort to separate the debate from the issue of race, the series' writers switched the roles common in the public debate. Here, the murdered police officer is black, and the suspect is white. This cleverly boils down the episode's message to its essentials - who watches the watchers? Because, let's face it, law enforcement accountability is an issue that needs to be discussed, and needs to continue being discussed until such stories stop cropping up in this absurd amount. For instance, former (thankfully) CPD Cmdr. Jon Burge was convicted in 2011 following accusations of having been the leading figure in the torture of no less than 200 subjects. Those are Gestapo numbers, certainly nothing you want in the Land of Freedom. Some of the tortured were quite possibly real criminals. it doesn't matter. One of the principal tenets of criminal justice - and a point which is made throughout the series - is that even the most despicable individuals still have rights. That is how it was envisaged by the Founding Fathers, not the government-sanctioned lynchmob another reviewer here seems to be perfectly fine with (who also assumes the defendant's guilt, whereas the episode quite clearly hints at his complete innocence).
And the debate is going nowhere. People are firmly dug into their positions, mostly "all cops are " or "no cop can do any wrong", with the extremes being so vocal and unrelenting that no real debate ever commences; we see only echo chambers for left-wing anarchists and crypto-fascists with a little red, white, and blue sprinkled on top. But we need a debate, and we need it now. And if this episode can help further this cause, I say good. Because it exposes the flaws in the system, and does so mercilessly. That is what good TV does. Because this is fixable - but it also means acknowledging some hard facts.
In an effort to separate the debate from the issue of race, the series' writers switched the roles common in the public debate. Here, the murdered police officer is black, and the suspect is white. This cleverly boils down the episode's message to its essentials - who watches the watchers? Because, let's face it, law enforcement accountability is an issue that needs to be discussed, and needs to continue being discussed until such stories stop cropping up in this absurd amount. For instance, former (thankfully) CPD Cmdr. Jon Burge was convicted in 2011 following accusations of having been the leading figure in the torture of no less than 200 subjects. Those are Gestapo numbers, certainly nothing you want in the Land of Freedom. Some of the tortured were quite possibly real criminals. it doesn't matter. One of the principal tenets of criminal justice - and a point which is made throughout the series - is that even the most despicable individuals still have rights. That is how it was envisaged by the Founding Fathers, not the government-sanctioned lynchmob another reviewer here seems to be perfectly fine with (who also assumes the defendant's guilt, whereas the episode quite clearly hints at his complete innocence).
And the debate is going nowhere. People are firmly dug into their positions, mostly "all cops are " or "no cop can do any wrong", with the extremes being so vocal and unrelenting that no real debate ever commences; we see only echo chambers for left-wing anarchists and crypto-fascists with a little red, white, and blue sprinkled on top. But we need a debate, and we need it now. And if this episode can help further this cause, I say good. Because it exposes the flaws in the system, and does so mercilessly. That is what good TV does. Because this is fixable - but it also means acknowledging some hard facts.