You make a fair point. My argument is more based on officer discretion. Not every law has to be rigorously and sternly enforced. Think about simply keeping the peace, too.
Here’s a rather minor example. I recently watched a body-cam video of a cop approaching a guy who was sitting on a park bench. The guy was burning a memorial candle, as he had just lost a friend in the area. He wasn’t bothering anybody. He was being peaceful.
What did the cop do? He decided to enforce some law, and harass the sh*t out of the poor guy. Let’s see some ID! You are burning an open container in public without a permit!
I wish this was just an isolated, one-in-a-million incident. But it’s not. That guy will probably be anti-cop for years to come. And I can’t blame him.
This is why I always distinguish between "enforcing the law" as a matter of conduct and "enforcing the law" from a process standpoint.
I live in a town that has no police officers. It's awesome. The state police only come around if someone calls them and reports a crime. That's the way it's supposed to be.