The unethical and criminal elements in police departments are foreign.
Not expected or normal.
Think intruder, imposter.
In other words, like a disease. You don’t surrender to it, you cure it.
Blanket scorn for the police is probably worse than blanket reverence.
No they aren’t. They are expected. They are normal. They are built into the very system. And it cannot be cured. Or if it can nobody in the recorded history of humanity has succeeded.
There’s a big gap between blanket scorn and blanket reverence. I’d say the correct stance towards police would be caution. Understanding that they are a necessary evil, and can do good, but any given police officer could be a scumbag, or could be enforcing bad laws. Like other cars on a two lane highway, pay attention, make sure they’re staying in their lane, and be prepared to deal when they don’t.