“Lots of people that can sit around for 25 years and retire at 45 - with full pensions, healthcare, etc. for decades to come afterwards.”
That is true. And in a way big leftist cities are making their jobs easier since they’re usually ordered to stand down in most nasty situations, so they can just watch the action without getting their billy clubs dirty.
What is really making it less desirable now isn’t the nature of the work (they can always hide from those they “serve and protect”), it is that the unions have cut entry-level pay to accommodate more senior members of the force.