"I remember stopping for a second, and thinking, like, 'This is out of control, I need to go get a real cop or something,' " Lawless said. "I was really scared."
Ouch. It's never a good day when you need to call real cops on Philly cops.
I've met plenty of good cops and really good police organizations. The State Police is pretty uniformly decent here in PA. MAYBE one or two in a hundred are bad apples, and they're usually kept in line. They tend to be tough, but professional, when it comes to enforcing the rules. They often don't give traffic warnings or whatnot, and they don't give passes. On the other hand, I have never heard them of destroying evidence, intimidating witnesses, and pistol whipping folks their son managed to ram. If I ever had to be pulled over or arrested (hopefully not), I'd prefer to deal with the PA State Police.
Philly cops are not uniformly good or decent. Say maybe one in three are bad apples and the rest cover for them automatically. I have family in Philly, and personal experiences. A good experience with the Philly cops is not getting snowflaked, assaulted or robbed.
To keep things 2A geared, for anyone traveling through Philly with a CCW or LTCF. Bring a copy of the UFA and if you're from out of state, a copy of the reciprocity agreement. The Philly PD is usually willfully ignorant of state concealed carry laws, and may detain you or confiscate your pistol if they find out that you are concealed carrying. You can sue and win, but discretion is the better part of valor. Better yet. Don't go there.