>In fairness, it must be scary to be a cop in a restless US neigborhood. You never know when you'll get a split second's notice that somebody is opening fire. Shoot first and ask questions later used to be satire but in 2015 it may be the best route for a cop who wants to make it home to see their kid rather than attending their own emotional funeral in a box while the kid salutes the dead hero.

So, let's get real.

-A man in NY was killed by a chokehold applied by an NYPD cop arresting him for selling cigarettes one at a time rather than selling full packs.
-A man in North Charleston, SC was shot and killed by a cop who stopped him for not paying child support.
-A woman in Tx hanged herself in her cell (or so it seems) She was pulled over for not signaling when changing lanes. The cop who pulled her over told her to put out her cigarette. When she refused, he ordered her out of the car. She resisted and he took her to jail forcibly where she hanged herself.

I was among a large batch of military inductees being sorted out for aptitudes and assigned jobs.
We were given IQ and aptitude tests and interviews.
Those who couldn't do anything else were made cooks.
Those who couldn't make it as cooks were made MP's (Military Police)

These myths about cops like Kojak and Inspector Morse are nonsense. Most of these people couldn't hack it in a real job.
I have many relatives in the NYPD and the NYFD.
The NYFD guys often face real dangers. Some of my cousins have saved entire families.
The NYPD guys hand out traffic tickets, do crowd control at Mets' games and count the days till they can retire.