I think that's a "fair" approach, but the issue is with the police these issues are largely systemic. These police departments are set up to be this way, because yeah, a job like being a police officer is often a thankless job, so they protect their own before anyone else. So some people will see the public shitting on them and want to be defensive for them. Or they know a cop or someone in their family is a cop. But just think about the kind of job they have, and the systems in place and what's criminalized and what isn't, and who is more likely to interact with police on a regular basis and who isn't. And also what the police are actually there for at the end of the day, and no, it's not preventing crime or protecting citizens, sometimes that just happens by accident.
I don't agree it's a thankless job, honestly. I think that's what they'd like you to think. For the most part from a young age we were told to revere, respect, and trust police officers. I think the latter generations are tired of that, and it's starting to shift to a point where not everyone wants to kiss their asses and they're upset about it. Part of my opinion could be geographic. I have lived in Texas for a long time, and the red politics here are very pro-Blue.
My biggest problem with the police in the USA boils down to a single thing: It's way too easy to be a cop here.
Way too easy. We treat police like city profit centers. Between Civil Asset Forfeiture, speed traps, mandatory minimums and incentivizing police to essentially ruin lives over minuscule things (possession, for instance, should not be a felony that follows someone forever). It blows my mind that we don't do monthly PT tests on police officers in this country. Hell, take a look at the group photos of the Uvalde PD; I don't think a single one of them is suited for an on-foot chase. How the hell can they do their job effectively if they are so overweight that they'd be outta breath getting out of their car? We require constant PT of our military, whether they're doing a physically demanding job or not.
There are some good cops out there, but in general police are not our friends. Your average police officer wouldn't think twice about putting you or I in prison for 10 years and separating us from our families, rendering us unable to get a decent job for the rest of our lives, over something as minor as possession (in rural TX all it'd take is some weed).
