> Gad, I miss "Peace Officers".
I have friends who are cops, and every one of them has my respect. They do good work, enforcing the law, and being helpful when they can. Maybe they're the exception, but I'd like to think not entirely.
When I was growing up in the 50's and 60's, "the policeman is your friend" was the refrain, and by and large I had no problems with police. Until I was 17, and driving, and had long hair and played rock-n-roll and did all those hippie-type things (what can I say...). At which point the cops became The Enemy to a lot of my friends.
I decided early on that it was a bad idea to openly go up against superior firepower. So I learned to be polite and reasonably cooperative, and I stayed out of jail despite being just as much of a dissipated youth as any of my buddies.
I'm a lot older, and haven't driven drunk in decades. But I still remember getting pulled over at night a few sheets to the wind, and keeping my cool, and doing okay.
I have respect for the police, in general. And I try to avoid pissing them off, especially at night.
Cops are more likely to act like "Peace Officers" when the you're being peaceable yourself. At least that's been my experience. YMMV, of course.
I'm calling B.S. on that.