If your police acquaintance was serious,I am afraid he lost sight of what he was there for..yes,many times it is thankless and negative and feels like you are barely stemming the tide,but to feel you are there to harass the public? Traffic enforcement can feel that way,but not enforcing those laws results in higher accident rates,more injuries and deaths,so though it is tough it is needed duty..the shield goes both ways,to protect the public,and also to remind you that you stand for something,and do your best,and the shield is to protect you as well..hope he can feel better about his job,someday..
And I don't mean to be questioning your friend's dedication,I am just hoping he was being funny,a whistling in the dark kind of humor that can be essential to keeping your sanity..know I have had my share of bad days on the job,and several that were downright awful,physically,mentally and emotionally..
The weird thing (to me) was that he was a detective. I'd rather hoped that it was a dark humor thing, too, and related the story in passing to a judge I knew. And in contradistinction to your fine attitude and approach, the judge said, not so much in passing, "The trouble with that guy is, he believes it."
I'm not trying to turn this into a cop thread. To the contrary. It was an analogy, and I could've used a better one than an example in an arena that is already kind of heated.
Lots of people have tough jobs. Grandma is one of those people. She spends time taking care of people that are burdensome to take care of, and she does very well at it, and people love the job she does. She also is there sometimes to see them out, so to speak, and comfort the family. She attends her share of funerals. It's tough on her, but she knows that someone caring needs to do it. And if someone asked, "Do they scrape the bottom of the barrel for those people?" or something dismissive, I'd bristle.
But no, not everyone in her position is like that. Some are going through the motions. As are some teachers. As are some judges. And you know, we have our police who are badge-heavy. When systems are designed, operated by, and populated by humans, not everything is perfect. So it goes.
