The reasons for which they do their jobs are just as varied as the employees in the private sector.

There are cops of every political, religious, racial and any other demographic identifier working the streets. Do some stereotypes apply? Of course! Stereotypes have to have some basis in truth or no one could see the humor/irony in many situations.

But for you to be able to catagorize and pigeonhole a single profession, AND promote a mythical cure for societies ills is either genius or a presumptuous attitude/lacking in real life experience, in the extreme.

Truth: There are people out there who will almost always lie, cheat, steal and view everyone else as a target or a threat. They are stuck at the pre-adolescent maturity level, where the whole world is only about them. They represent a very small percentage of society, but the danger lies in the fact that they have the same rights as you and I, they are indistiguishable from you and I and they know the “system better than you and I.

Society as a whole has to treat these members as a cancer cell in the “somes publicus”, by either eliminating their ability to destroy parts of the body public or changing their behavior. The agents of that challenge are the police which you hire.

Give the average patrolman two years to try and figure out who the asswipe is and who isn’t on a daily basis, and you have a person who just cannot afford the emotional investment in always viewing everyone he/she meets in a non-judgmental light.

Hell, most cops won’t even trust another cop from a different precinct or department… because they’ve been burned too many times.

But, at the end of the day, those same cops go home and do what the rest of us do. Play with the kids, go out on dates,have part time jobs, trouble paying the bills, etc, ad infinitum. They vote libertarian, democrat, republican or (rarely) not at all.

So basically, don’t patronize those who really try to serve and protect. You honestly (through no fault or omission on your part) don’t have a clue. That’s just the way it is. You have a right to your opinions, biases and prejudicial attitude… but in the end, you still haven’t a clue.

As for society being able to cauterize it’s own wounds…uhhhh… that’s exactly what the police are. The cauterizing agent. Quit viewing the authority figures and those we’ve elected as entities apart from society. We are, by definition and in acuallity, a part of the society in which we live.

For example, you say you give as much respect as you are given. I’m sure you try. However, you have been told your whole career that you deserve more respect than an average citizen. You are, after all, an authority figure. They MUST respect you, and most of the people you are forced to deal with, just aren’t respectable. So who can blame you, then, for demanding the respect you are told you deserve?

Who can blame you for also not giving that same respect easily? For one thing, these people are just civilians. They depend upon YOU. You don’t need them. Sure, they “pay you” with taxes, but they didn’t make that decision, and for all you know they are tax dodgers anyway.

I mean, like you said, police are lied to every day. People see you and immediately start thinking up excuses. So you have to cut through the bullshit right? Never stop suspecting, because if you do, you might miss something. Doesn’t that make you suspect maybe the people you are dealing with aren’t giving you the respect you deserve, even if they appear to? It could be just another lie. It’s a front, and if they don’t really respect you, you don’t have to respect them. Even if they seem to deserve it now, who knows what might come to light later.

So do you really give back the respect your given, or does that suspicion keep you from even doing that? But hey, so what, it’s the job. You aren’t here to respect them you’re here to protect them. I mean, without police to keep them in line, who knows what they would do to themselves. Well, you do. You’ve seen it. That’s why you, and the politicians you serve, know whats best for everyone. You can protect them from themselves. After all, without you an your kind, who would protect them?

Maybe themselves. Maybe nature is right. Maybe power shouldn’t rest in the hands of the few, but in the many. In the all. Maybe everyone should be free to do what they do, and maybe out of necessity, people would be better people. People able to defend themselves. People not consumed by boredom and consumerism. It may not always be pretty and sterile, but maybe it’s proper. Maybe with no one to control them, reign them in, and keep them blissfully ignorant, people would have to step up. Maybe the strong of body, mind, and spirit would survive, while society would cauterize it’s own wounds naturally. Maybe the people that are the problem you seek to control couldn’t survive in a society capable of defending itself.

Society is diseased, but it has a natural way of curing itself. Government in excess only acts as an immunosuppressant.

I’m sure you and your fellow officers are great people. I’m sure I’d enjoy buying many of you a drink. I don’t think the above is what you intend. I don’t think you’ve ever even thought about it. In the end, this is the way it is, and in the world as it is, I’d probably rather have you than not. But just because it’s the way it is, doesn’t mean it’s the way it should be. Think about that.