"On the Arm"

[GentlemanJim]

Somebody please help me with this.

Season 12, episode 11 (the episode that just ran new this evening), A police captain by the name of Terrell is harvesting give-aways from merchants in her jurisdiction, and donating them to what she sees as a just cause, giving the proceeds to war veterans.

Regardless of the best of intentions that I am sure she has, taking freebies from citizens under your jurisdiction is expressly verboten. She forces the matter to a formal hearing, and loses her case.

She remains steadfast in her righteousness, insisting the ends justify the means.

Here is where I get confused.

Commissioner Reagan challenges her in private, to reveal the "real reason" she is operating a clandestine charity service.

And her explanation was that as a Black woman who was a cop, she felt like a traitor to her family and personal acquaintances who fail to have respect for her vocation. So she was using (exploiting, in my view) her position of authority to "balance the books" of her conscience with these good deeds.

I don't understand why that revelation did not serve to compound the problem, because to me her explanation said "I'm willing to prostitute the badge, to alleviate the guilt I feel for betraying my people by being an authority figure they loath and disrespect".

Had I been in the commissioner's chair, I think my response would have been an expectation that she resign from a job that makes her feel embarrassed.

I don't understand how Frank can go forward knowing he's got an employee in a position of authority, who is so fundamentally conflicted about their duty.

I would have had her badge in my hand before she left the room