I was hesitant to write this comment because even though I consider my stance fairly nuanced (with my comment reflecting that) dismissive statements like "copaganda" don't make for any kind of reasonable debate. But I'll try.

When I was on a ride along and I watched a guy who just brutally beat his pregnant girlfriend (who was bleeding on the ground in the front yard) charge at us and end up rolling around on the ground with the cop just what they "wanted me to see"? Turns out he was "going hard" because he had a warrant for armed robbery.

Same goes for the time the cop pulled over a bunch of gang members (Latin Kings) who threatened to kill us and started making threatening movements in the car (we backed up and he called in some kind of "tactical team" that blocked the street and ordered them out one by one).

Or when I watched a guy shove an EMT out of his front door, run in the kitchen, grab a knife, and swipe it at the cop because he beat his partner unconscious who was bleeding from the head on the kitchen floor? I was personally and directly in multiple situations where I witnessed these things and was terrified and probably a little traumatized as a result.

There's more but I'm not kidding when I say this stuff was traumatic. This was 10 years ago and it's still fairly difficult for me to talk about but I do occasionally because of viewpoints and responses like yours.

This is not "what they wanted me to see". Ride along programs exist to give ordinary citizens a view into a "day in the life". Of course when on a ride along they will be on their best behavior but for what it's worth the officer I was with was an acquaintance of mine so he didn't hold back doing horrible things like "Oh that girl looks hot, she has a taillight out. I want to introduce myself". He pulled her over, talked her out of the car to "look at the light", and spent a while flirting with her. Seriously, that happened too. Disturbing.

In the two domestic violence situations I described I was a little uncomfortable at the level of force he used to respond to them, which is so confusing and conflicting because moments before that I thought I was going to get killed or seriously injured. It really messes with you. Was it "reasonable" to order those gang guys out of the car, make them lie face down on the ground, handcuff them, call in gang unit detectives to line them up, take pictures of them, and question them handcuffed while sitting on the curb? To this day I have no idea.

I have seen the studies. In terms of death, serious injury, etc law enforcement doesn't even crack the top 10 most dangerous professions. However, in my experience I was in very real fear for my life at least once each time I went out. I either ran away or stood there paralyzed thinking "If this guy wins this fight I'm dead". It's not a good sign when you finally realize "They think I'm a cop. Problem is I have no weapons, no protection, and no training. This is even more dangerous for me." At one point the cop did something like "I'm not supposed to show you this but if things get really bad here's how you unlock the rifle in the car".

I would hope that people can recognize what it does to you psychologically to see this side of humanity every day. It's a lot different than being a logger and worrying about a tree falling on you, or being an electric lineman and worrying about slipping and getting electrocuted. Falling off a cell tower, whatever.

It's very eye opening, scary, disturbing, and confusing all around. I watch the Youtube body cam footage with either slant and think "Yeah, that's what it's like - good, bad, and ugly".