When there's VIDEO of the cop threatening to crush someone's skull and plant a kilo of cocaine on another, it shouldn't be hard to convict him for one thing, and it should be trivial to fire him.

You don't need to be proven guilty in a court of law to get fired.

If the police want the community to trust them, then they need to act like they deserve trust.

That is precisely the statute when an officer "smells" drugs or "sees" a weapon. The accused is not set free, they are locked up (often on charges of "resisting arrest") with rapists and murderers until someone posts bail.

I mean, Christ, can you imagine if a teacher were caught on camera threatening to crush the skull of one student, and plant a kilo of cocaine on another, and the TEAHCERS' UNION fought to keep that teacher's job?

Fox News would explode.

For agents of government power, the standard should not allow even the appearance of impropriety.

False dichotomy.