We've seen cops steal money, plant drugs on people, beat up elderly, get DUIs, overdose.

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Their word

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You're a Russian troll farm bot.

What weight should we place on your word?

They are as flawed as all humans when they start....after a few months of seeing humanity at its absolute worse, in ways that are imaginable to anyone not in the business, most slide into a very dark place where everyone is the worst person they ever dreamed of as a defense mechanism. Its a damn tough job and an extremely necessary one.

As a society we really should do as much for them as possible. That is not supporting them no matter what they do....that is actually a big part of the problem. That encourages the worst among them to be the bar by which they are all measured. There is a lot we can do to make the job more human, First off avoiding hiring and getting rid of true psychopath's among them. The vast majority are the type of person who has to help people when they are in trouble. When the rare psychotic enters a group of such people nothing positive is going to ensue. The psychotic can easily become more of the norm than not. That makes the job of everyone around them infinitely more difficult.

We should not measure the success of our police by the number of arrests made. An arrest should mean a crime was committed and involves a victim in all but the rarest cases. That is a failing, not a success. We should measure their success by a reduction in crime and community involvement in the policing of the community. That should be the measure of success, not arresting criminals who have victimized the community. When there is an arrest the measure of success should be conviction rate. It is rarely considered.

We should shame people who despise cops and simultaneously hold cops to a higher standard. This is not mutually exclusive. There is a lot we can do but all we do is either complain about the bad ones or claim they are doing a perfect job with no issues. Neither is where our focus should be.

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Their word really shouldn't count any more in court than a defendant's word

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What does this mean? “Count more” how? Are they awarded extra points or something?

They are a witness just like any other. I wouldn’t give them any more weight than the defendants mother telling me how sweet and wonderful her son is.

You'll never convince me that there is such a thing as a good cop.

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What does this mean? “Count more” how? Are they awarded extra points or something? They are a witness just like any other. I wouldn’t give them any more weight than

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Well since you’re criticizing statements, are you handing them sacks of potatoes with your “more weight” statement?

Are you asking for more “reform” so your criminal buddies can go free?

Sounds like either you or someone close to you got arrested.

It’s a shame our jails are full of so many innocent people, right?

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the measure of success should be conviction rate

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It already is. This is why you have dirty cops and DAs planting evidence and coercing witnesses. They often times don't care about right or wrong or injustice or community well-being as long as they get that conviction so that they have record of being tough on crime. That's how they get promoted and reelected. Most cops are the psychopath assholes and bullies and it's mostly due to the reasons you mentioned. I believe that most go into that career with good intentions but they get caught up in a negative spiral when dealing with the public day in and day out. The current system is not conducive to honest behavior.

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Its a damn tough job and an extremely necessary one.

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I agree

A cop is a lot like a doctor. Normal human with an elitist complex that think the rules don’t apply to them.

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with the police the good cops do nothing, or worse lie and falsely imprison innocent people

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Then they aren't good cops