Another question on 487-89

I just read an article about the officers in Philadelphia being taken off the street for the beating of some suspects. I am all for punishing someone who kills a police officer, as I have a little brother who is a police officer, but I am not for the police officers taking it upon themselves to do the punishing. If the suspects had threatened their lives, then I can understand them protecting themselves. From what I understand, that was not the case. The beatings had started after a traffic stop. It’s all on video and all that has happened so far to the police officers is that they are not working. If it had been someone else that had done this, they would have been arrested, especially with the video evidence that is there.
I understand them being “one edge” since one officer had been killed just two days ago, but what is this, the wild west? Aren’t the officers supposed to uphold the law? I do hope that they will be strictly punished for this. I see this as a way for those who break the law to hate officers more than they already do. There is a reason why some people don’t like them and it is stunts like this that just fans the flames. I am not a cop hater, far from it. I believe they are there to protect us and I support them. But I also believe that they should obey the law that they are trying to enforce. If it was my brother that had been involved, I would expect no less than the punishment that he deserved. Police officers are not to be vigilantes. There is a justice system in place that has been in place for a couple hundred years and it should be followed.
I can understand the mother of one of the suspects being as upset as she was. If it was my son, I would be upset, too. Upset at my son for being involved in the crime that was first committed, and upset at the officers for taking the punishment into their own hands. They are the ones that are supposed to arrest the criminals and then the attorneys and judges are the ones to try them. Isn’t that how the system is supposed to work? Shouldn’t they be punished for committing a crime themselves?