Cops aren’t civilians?
As an Army veteran I’m not comfortable with the local cop talking about himself as though he isn’t a civilian, and the rest of us are.
That’s simply how cops refer to life if you’re not on the force. One of the problems with the job, particularly since the 1970s, is that the police almost have to live a separate life - or be under attack. The “village policeman” model was destroyed by terrorism and attacks long ago.
Most people I know in LE end up socializing or going out with only other people in that world, since everybody else will come up to them (literally, at a party) and either insult them or ask them what was their goriest and most gruesome case.