Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

The mythos of police in America has taken a beating in recent years but they still remain in the admirable pantheon of firemen, athletes and astronauts. In fact, those people who become policemen because they decided to as children are exactly who a society wants as policemen. Police work requires a high level of egalitarianism; treat everyone the same, don't pre-judge. That's a high bar; most folks don't have it in them, and unfortunately, there's a significant number of policemen that do it for the power trip and the gun. Luckily, the screening that police cadets face weeds out the worst psychological basket-cases but most police work is dull and routine, and puts them in contact with the worst elements of society, so whatever a young police academy graduate started out as, by the time they are veterans on the force, most are jaded beyond recognition.

There's also a growing divide between the opinions of the public and those of police officers: over 80% of police say the public doesn't under the the risks-rewards of police work, but the people view it exactly opposite. Also, in the past, Hollywood dramatized police in an overwhelmingly positive light but Pop culture is evolving due to dashcams and smartphones which has led to the police themselves wearing body cameras, as a defense against claims of malfeasance; the implication being that police would act dishonestly without the constant and intimate oversight. It doesn't help any that police have now become indistinguishable from military soldiers, no longer the friendly neighborhood watchman of Sesame Street.