Yeah ive seen both sides, my sisters husbands dad was a cop and he was one of those prototypical douchebag cops who would puff his chest out and thought his opinion was the be all end all on everything, he was always bragging about what a big deal he was and the funny thing is that all the other cops i ever talked too knew unanimously knew this guy to be a clown, he was the laughing stock of the station, all he ever talked about at thanksgiving dinners was stories about busting hookers, like he was really doing the world a favour by going after them, he was exactly the kind of guy you dont want to see with a gun and any kind of authority. When he found out what i did He would always try to give me stock tips, and it was the worst advice imaginable. EG.. Buy enron their due for a bounce. I havent met many people in my life who were as consistently wrong as he always was, so i can see how shit is going to go wrong when you put someone like him in a life or death situation.
But then ive met guys like my good friends dad where he was just a wholesome church going guy who was in it because he was trying to make a positive change in the community. He would literally take people who he busted to A.A. or narcotics anonymous meetings, and try to change their lives as opposed to just trying to charge them.
Its sad that guys like him get maligned because of all the stupid d-bags like my sisters father in law who are on a power trip and who make a bad name for all of them.