It depends,
Are they on duty or off ?
If they're on duty, were they doing it to prevent another crime, much worse one, from happening ?
If off duty, what does it involve? Drugs, Abuse, Assault? The list goes on.
They are the "man" so they are well aware of their actions and the consequences that follow, but the punishment shouldn't be worse only because, we as a society believe that every man was|are created equal regardless of color, race, or religion.
So even though they do know what they are doing, they still are considered equal, and shouldn't receive a harsher punishment, but should instead be prevented from being a law enforcement official .