>>What is it about police work that draws Barney Fife types?<<
It is a great way for an “outcast” to get “authority”. It was what sucked in a lot of brownshirts to the Nazi party. I consider modern cops to be either idiots or brownshirts. Or they just couldn’t find any other job.
LOL, I always thought it had something to do w/ size of a particular part of the anatomy coupled w/ an inferiority complex. Frankly, the majority of cops aren’t suited to the job mentally and/or physically. Their bad and sometimes criminal behavior is enabled by town councils and state legislatures. At least in NH if half disappeared overnight the only way you’d (eventually) figure it out is by a surplus of $ in the towns payroll acct.
“I consider modern cops to be either idiots or brownshirts. Or they just couldn’t find any other job.”
Your description is pretty much close to mine. I’ve believed that most cops were either bullied in junior high and high school or were the bullies themselves.
For the former, it’s a psychological attempt to get the power and respect they didn’t get in years past. For the latter, it’s a continued opportunity to continue acting as they did in high school.