I've always thought that police forces should be comprised of professional investigators and commanding officers and that the rest of the officers should be made up of either qualified community volunteers or some type of mandatory paid community service. I feel it should be everyones responsibility to serve and protect their community.
Part of the problem is that cops feel like they are in their own fraternity, and that to many everyone else is a 'scumbag' (I've heard cops who I knew personally tell me this). I've been told that they see so much bad in humanity on a daily basis, that it is hard not to look at everyone in the same light. If everyone in the community was at one time part of the same fraternity, I think cops would have a better respect for the citizen, and the citizen would also understand how tough it is to be a cop and truly afford them the respect they actually deserve most times.
When I was younger in Boston I was a member of the Guardian Angels and we worked with the police closely, always informing them of the neighborhoods we would patrol. Some didn't like us, but a great many of them showed us respect and knew that we were at times putting our lives in danger trying to make a difference. I actually don't mind most cops, treat them with respect and have had some who were personal friends.
I know things are different today, but I remember a time when cops were not ultra aggressive. Kids would play pranks on them and they would laugh about it. They were local people who you and your family actually knew. They did their job for the right reasons, didn't cover their face with black masks, holding AR-15 rifles, while kicking down your door and shooting your dog - only to find out that they were at the wrong house.
Despite all of this, my opinion has always been that a situation is never made better when a cop is added to it. If everyone was actively involved in their own safety, and others around them, we would have far less problems than we do today. Where I live we don't have local police, only county sheriffs who are seldom seen and usually very far away. That is one of the many reasons I enjoy living where I do lol.
