Three years ago, I was investigating the small but growing industry of insurance and reputation management for individual police officers. I wasn't able to get enough people to speak to me so it never got off the ground, but it was dark as hell (1/)

Police in many major cities hire private PR management firms, nothing new there. But some guys had started offering PR insurance policies for police in the event that they shoot a civilian. After Ferguson, they said that business was booming.

I interviewed an ex-LA police beat reporter who ran one of these firms. He said that the first thing he instructs his clients to do is preemptive image control — something to have ready to go if they shoot someone.

“We have a scenario we like to use, showing a white Irish cop who was pictured kneeling down with a black kid at a Christmas parade, and the kid has on his hat and he has on the kid’s hat,” he told me.

“It’s perfect — if he ever finds himself in the Darren Wilson [the officer who killed Michael Brown] situation, then we have something to show the media, hey this guy isn’t racist.”

This cynical, cosy relationship between police and media has so much to answer for. #GeorgeFloyd