system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do you hear about police breaking the law (like strangling the guy in Tennessee) and they just get fired rather than arrested and charged?

It seems like this happens a lot.  If a member of the public behaved like that we'd get thrown in jail for a long time.
A police office does it and they simply get unemployment.  Is there a justification for this?
gpt
Police are afforded a significant amount of individual discretion in deciding what is an appropriate or reasonable level of force to use. It's a judgment call in the situation; occasionally they get it wrong. If they knew there was a high likelihood of being charged with a crime themselves there could be situations where police do not use the necessary force required to keep themselves and the public safe.

For that reason, cases of police brutality and the like are more often handled as an employment matter (not fit for service) rather than a criminal matter (not fit for society).