The basic problem as I see it is cops very nearly always take the position that the person under suspicion EVERYONE THEY SEE is a criminal and they act accordingly.
Why else would they refer to the public as "civilians" rather than citizens? I was taught that a cop was just another citizen entrusted with keeping the peace by enforcing the law, not acting as though every encounter were a gunpoint takedown.
Thanks for the rectification Don W,
For a time, I was “friends” with our retired chief of police (his third wife was a family friend). But as time wore on, from the things he told me, about his “career in law enforcement,” and how he “deserved” a pension that was 3X what he made on the job, I decided he was a bad choice for a personal association. He personifies what you said. He viewed everyone as a potential lawbreaker. He once told my wife he could follow her down the street in her car and find something he could stop her for in less than a mile. He also laughed when he told me that he used to waive his gun at motorists who followed too closely (which is a felony if you or I did it).