How was it for Serpico?

If you saw the movie or read the book about Frank Serpico, did it make a lasting impression on you?

What would it be like to be the cop who wasn't on the take, who didn't bend the rules for his friends in blue, who just wanted to be a good cop? I've forgotten all the details of Serpico's life as a cop with NYPD. As I like to remember the story, he was one of the good guys.

And this makes me wonder what it would be like to be a guy who beat the sheriff at his game, knowing that there is a certain crowd at the sheriff's department that tends to stick together. I think that deputies are probably divided into the in's and the out's. If I were a deputy there, I'd be among the out's. No doubt about it.

The McHenry County Sheriff's Department should be a place where all deputies show up to do the best possible job. There shouldn't be "favorites" or cliques. You do your job, and you do it right.

And, if you don't do it right, you get disciplined fairly. Everybody should know that everybody gets treated equally. This is how it should be.

But how is it?

How are differences between employees settled? Do they talk it out like grown-ups? Or do they behave like children?

Does it get "personal" right away? Do they want to head on down to the O.K. Corral and settle it at high noon? And when it's over, is it really over? Can they end up on a call together and know that their differences are put aside, so that they handle the call safely and correctly for all?

So, what exactly was going on today? And, no, I haven't talked to either party.