There has been some talk around this office as to the proper definition of “cracker.” Half of us are convinced that “cracker” refers to all white people, while the other half of us are pretty sure that it refers to a specific kind of redneck racist. Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe. We finally resolved that all crackers are white people, but not all white people are crackers.

We need to expand the definition of “cracker.” It strikes me as a slur against an ignorant attitude more than against an entire race — at least that’s how I’ve always used it. I know Indians back home I think of as crackers. However you use it, a new definition of “cracker” needs to include cops of any race who get off beating a suspect laying on the ground who’s been shot several times.

It has been a week since Thomas Jones was beaten by the Philadelphia police live in front of a national audience and already the story is dying in the press. We can all do without the uproar of another scandal, but not when something scandalous happens.

People should get worked up when cops mercilessly beat a guy in broad daylight when they know the cameras are rolling. Good Lord, what would they have done if they knew they weren’t being watched? No one seems concerned and one thing is certain: Never underestimate the ability of the American public to not give a damn.

Police brutality has always been a problem in the United States. Anyone who doesn’t think so is either white or middle class.

What keeps Americans from getting worked up is that Jones was actually guilty of something to start with — unlike Rodney King who was just driving in a suspicious manner, whatever that means — and that makes it hard for them to take his side against the cops.

He stole a car, and to most Americans that means he deserves what he gets. As a group, we prefer our justice black and white without all the confusing gray areas to confuse things. Cops are the good guys and as long as they aren’t shooting a guy 41 times or hitting him 100 times while on the job, Americans don’t care. We aren’t far removed from the Wild West attitudes of extreme, vigilante-style justice.

To Americans, whether it’s in the movies, in war or everyday life, there are good guys and bad guys. We just don’t get it when there isn’t someone wearing a white hat beating a guy in a black hat. We don’t like to see the bad guy win unless we are the bad guy, and then we still like to believe we are the good guy.

This isn’t one of those “I hate cops” columns, though I could tell you some stories about getting harassed and being searched illegally. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a cop. To me, there was nothing more noble than serving the public good. I still think firefighters rock the Casbah old school. I used to look at cops with awe as though they were the protectors of everything decent. They catch bad guys, how could they not be good? And you know, nine times out of 10 or better, I still believe that.

I don’t think anybody goes into law enforcement thinking it is a sweet deal, an easy way to make a lot of cash. Maybe in New York, but that impression is based largely on stereotypes from TV and film where cops take bribes and freebies. In Council Bluffs, we call the Taco John’s on Broadway the Second Precinct; every cop in town hits that place twice a night.

Unfortunately, I came to realize cops are just people and that people are, by and large, amoral idiots. Take a look around you. Would you want anyone in your classroom to be spuriously granted moral authority over you for no better reason than they have a little training, a gun and a uniform? Would you want anyone in your classroom profiling you? Would you want them shooting you menacing looks of warning for nothing or just shooting you?

Who hasn’t been followed for miles by a cop waiting for your slightest mistake so he could give you a ticket or search your car?

Who hasn’t listened to a long-winded lecture about respecting the law for a simple parking violation from a guy who hits the siren on his way to the Krispy Kreme? Try NOT acting suspicious when some attitude case stops you at 2 a.m. to check your ID and then busts you for walking home like a decent citizen from the bar. All they need to do is arrest you for resisting arrest to give you a record and let you know who’s in control.

The cops take a lot of heat, and what is really too bad is they deserve it.

I saw the tape of Thomas Jones on FoxNews. I recorded it and watched it repeatedly. I listened to the experts excuse what they were looking at. “You have no idea how much pressure cops are under.” Yes, I do. A lot. They talk about the pressure in every cop show ever made. Pressure rationalizes suicide, drinking and some domestic problems, not beating a suspect on camera.

The cops greatest defense right now is the camera didn’t capture Jones until it was all over. The experts said, “You don’t know what he was doing, he could have had a gun in there. He could have been resisting. He could have been trying to escape.”

Yes he could. He could also have been sprouting wings like a butterfly in order to fly away to safety. It’s hard to see what a guy is up to when he’s being swarmed by cops.

Let’s pretend we are all rational and examine what we could see. I saw two cops pointing guns at Jones from the passenger side of the car. I then saw those two cops holster their guns so they could hop over the hood of the prowler like Dirty Harry and kick Jones on the ground.

Now, I haven’t had the same extensive training as the Philly cops, but I have watched “Hill Street Blues” and I have to tell you, if a suspect might have a gun, it seems like a bad idea to put YOUR gun away and jump in front of him.

I am not an expert, but I have to believe that if a suspect is armed and dangerous, the situation is not helped by a dozen cops crowding around him kicking him. What if they needed to shoot him … again. They would have surely hit another cop. It seems more control can be maintained over a suspect if the arrest doesn’t look like a Roman orgy. Am I wrong or do cops train to emulate Africanized bees?

If kicking him was such a good idea and a legitimate way to subdue him, why were supervisors on the scene trying to pull kicking cops off the guy? That seems contrary to logic. You can’t have it both ways.

If the cops couldn’t tell if he was armed or not, why did they rush the car?

I think Jones had his hands up and was preparing to surrender because those cops would not have dragged him from the car if they weren’t sure if he was armed or not.

They would have shot him with the slightest provocation if he looked like he still had a gun. My reasoning? They beat the hell out of him because they thought they could get away with it, why NOT shoot him when the rules not only allow it, but call for it?

If the average cop is no better qualified, trained or suited to his profession than the guy sitting next to you, why should you let them limit your freedom?

I believe it was Stan Lee who said “with great power, comes great responsibility.” We should not expect less from our police, but more. The job is not about strong-arming the masses, it is about taking responsibility for the protection of society. When cops act like thugs, they deserve our disdain, not our respect.

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Greg Jerrett is a graduate student in English from Council Bluffs. He is opinion editor of the Daily and not a big fan of “COPS.”