To Smear and Reject: Our Love/Hate Relationship With Law Enforcement

We have a hard time defining our relationship with law enforcement. On the one hand, we LOVE it! think of how much we love good guys taking down bad guys.  We are glued to the television and movie screens watching our favorite boys (or girls) in blue smash down doors, solve the crime, and get the bad guy.
Hill Stree Blues, The A Team, Chips, The Beat, Law and Order, Bones, Sherlock, The Commish, The Shield, Brooklyn 99, In Plain Sight, Bad Boys, Robo-Cop, Castle, Walking Dead, who can forget Lethal Weapon and Dirty Harry, the list goes on and on. There is an entire Wiki page devoted to Police Dramas.
They are the closest thing we have to super heroes in our own universe. They represent the piety and justice that we hope to have.  We infuse so much and such high standards on these people, that we forget they are people.
            On the other hand, we use our inherent rejection of authority to point out every flaw and reason we should hate it.  When they fall from that grace, they fall hard. When one, or many of these protecters and knights in shining blue and black does something bad, it crushes us.
Thats why it hurts so much, thats why we are so crushed when we see someone abusing that power. Our Knights in shining blue and black, when they take the role of the bad guy, it shatters our sense of safety, and all that security and faith turns to resentful anarchy. Its like finding out there is no santa, your lover breaks your heart and your parents cheat on each other all on the same day.  

I don't know what to do about this dichotomy, we have to find a balance and be able to put our faith, love and respect for these amazing people who put their lives on the line for us, and holding those accountable who abuse that power.

Not all cops are bad, but some bad people become cops.