One of the very first steps towards solving a problem is admitting that it exists.

I mean, I understand why cops would want to distance themselves from this rapist. Who wouldn’t?

But the spokesperson is using a classic bit of rhetoric to distance himself from a problem that is actually real. Rhetoricians have been doing this since Cicero first wrote about the practice 2,000 years ago.

We see the same practice constantly in other areas of social justice. Think, Not all Men, Not all Christians, Not all Republicans, etc.

While the intent of saying things like that may be honorable, the effect is to set oneself apart from a group in which abuse is being dished out regularly, thereby stifling or weakening conversations about how to solve the problem.

A more appropriate Met response might have been, “Yes, we know police officers sometimes abuse their power. We deplore that it happens, and we promise to work to make things better.”

That really wouldn’t be so hard, would it?