Andy Rooney makes a good point.

Yes it is a phenomenon of metro police departments and does go to a very basic part of the problem, that police in urban areas are not part of the community. Instead, they are outside enforcers. We need to get to a way where the police are part of the community and not a force against it.

I like the idea of required residency, perhaps by zip code, but one that cannot be cheated.

You'd probably be surprised at how much corruption is present in your small town police force. It's human nature.

Somethings never change

It's a maxim of the Police force: 'Never search your own backyard—you might find what you're looking for.
Joe Orton Loot (1965)

I think there is a lot of truth to that. When the cops who police an area actually live in or near that area, they see the public, even those who break the law, as their neighbors and fellow citizens, unlike when the cops live far away from their policing area in neighborhoods that are way different both racially and classwise. These kind of differences determine whether the cops have a fortress mentality where the community they police are the "other" or their enemy, or instead whether they see the public as their neighbors and fellow citizens. Sometimes I think these issues are a bigger part of the problem than cops just plain being racists.

Schooled to ‘be one,’ there was definitely a Fraternity element to it.. That would not have worked well with me, I’m sure. Small towns, I’d suspect less of that, as they’re closer to their community.

Most love our Sheriff, I suspect the job’s his till he doesn't want it any more, no one even ran against him.. Had a great visit on my porch with him one day, no big deal, just an opportunity to meet ‘the new guy’ I suspect. Told him of my schooling toward law enforcement & criminal justice … and he told me of his brother ..navigating the globe with his boat, and coaxing ‘this brother’ to join him..

I told him it must feel good to be needed. He agreed. They’re nowhere near all bad, heck, I’d expected to give my life for some innocent.. But the larger the department, the deeper the factions & politics. I’ve heard some real horror stories … stuff that confirmed it was best I avoided that career.

Many of the metros have cops who live far out in the burbs or completely different cities. Almost no one knows the people policing them unless they go out of their way to do so. I've been to loads of community policing meetings and most of the cops just show up to knock out their community outreach hours while they surf the web on their phones and the bosses do all the talking.

But I'm still a firm believer that most are not bad cops other than that they tolerate bad cops. They all get tarred with the same bad cop feather because they do not vigorously fight to expunge the bad cop taint and that's sad and bad. The majority are our first and best defense against bad cops. We need esprits de corps in these professions - it will take a generation or more of dedicated work and no one seems to have an interest in that because politicians only focus on the next election and leaders on the next promotion or transfer to the next city and fatter pay check.

It’s the same where I live. Where people know each other they generally behave better.

Large cities seem to create extremist actions and opinions. Smaller societies are far more tolerant.