General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Cop Slammed Emory Professor's Head Into Concrete, Then Charged Her With Battery [View all]Hong Kong Cavalier
(4,573 posts)...spoils the barrel" is the full quote.
It means if you find a bad apple in a bunch of them, the rot spreads much faster.
Corruption and brutality like this festers in organizations like the police, and if it's not isolated and removed (which it rarely is, of course) it spreads throughout the entire group.
Few will speak out against their 'brothers' for fear of retaliation. The police "unions" are simply organized gangs. (Look up Bob Kroll from the Minneapolis Police Department as an example).
Most of them are MAGAts, and the few that are won't oppose their fellow officers (again, for fear of retaliation.) It's why Internal Affairs is so hated in police departments; they exist to investigate police officers and are thought of as 'traitors'.
Consider that Internal Affairs depicted in television shows is usually portrayed as 'the enemy' of the police because of the rampant copaganda that exists in Hollywood police procedural shows.