I've had many interactions of all types with police, some good, some bad, and some really bad.

The ones that dealt with my gf's mental health emergency could have really nailed her on a ton of charges, but they seemed to understand better than the rest of us at first that this was mental and not criminal. I don't even know if she got any fines. They worked with the judge after seeing she got professional help and she got her record sealed and now she is doing amazingly well, and though very dramatic, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to her in the long run because she got help.

I do still feel bad for the one civilian she attacked in addition to the cops, because he was absolutely not happy she was essentially set free. It's not something he deserved to have gone through, and I don't expect him to feel better because a stranger was dealing with an untreated disorder. But now she is helping people in a medical job instead of being unable to get any job from having a violent assault record.

A friend's brother was a cop and killed someone who absolutely should not have been shot. The person shot was also going through some mental health thing, so that is really scary that it could have happened to my girlfriend. No charges were brought against him, and he's still with the same department over a decade later. I don't think he's a bad person. I do think he should have faced punishment, and he panicked under pressure and killed someone, so I definitely don't feel he should be a cop.

The only cop that was ever purposefully mean to me ended up getting hit by a drunk driver and hospitalized, and then they caught him with...illegal porn...and I was not unhappy either day those events occurred. I hope he got everything coming to him.

I briefly had another job that had me in regular contact with about a dozen or so police, and while they all seemed nice enough, the ones with personal vehicles with punisher skulls and all that didn't thrill me.

I guess I think there are a lot of systemic problems with American policing, much like this article addresses, on up to police being able to investigate their own crimes, and I think that attracts a disproportionate number of people that will take advantage of that.

But I wouldn't blindly hate anyone for being a cop any more than I'd think every priest, scoutmaster, or whatever was a bad person just because of their job. But if you're in a position of power, and you violate that, I think punishment should be harder and swifter than if it were your standard person. There is just such an increased ability to perpetrate crimes and cover them up, that we need to take away those incentives, not double down on them.