Watching police body camera footage has given me much more appreciation for the tough job police have. I can't imagine having people actively try to kill me in my day-to-day job as a software engineer.
It's not a job you'd want your children to do, but it's one that someone has to do.
1) Wow, this job is TERRIBLE. People doing stuff like committing a crime on video, going on a high speed chase, crashing into multiple cars and injuring people, finally crashing the car into a tree, shooting at the police, running on foot, hiding behind a building, and then fighting to the point it takes four-five cops to subdue them but then constantly screaming stuff like "I didn't do anything! Why are you hassling me? You better hope I don't find out where you live because I'm going to [insert the most disgusting, profane, and explicit sex crime stuff you can't even think of] to your wife and daughter". All while claiming they're having an asthma attack even though they just sprinted 1/4 mile. Then it takes the same number of cops 10 minutes just to get them in the police car because they're still fighting, spitting, kicking, who knows what.
The really bizarre ones are once they get in the car their primary concern is where their phone ended up... They end up at the jail with a "spit hood" over their head and their entire body strapped to a special wheeled chair where they can't move at all because they're still that dangerous. Most of us here cannot imagine it. It's the wildest stuff you've ever seen - hence the millions of subscribers.
2) Wow, this cop is TERRIBLE. Obvious racial profiling, screaming at people for doing nothing or committing minor infractions, beating/killing people for no reason, inventing charges, etc, etc.
People are people and it's a cross-section: terrible people doing terrible things on either side of the law. Obviously the police should be held to a higher standard but more often than not my take away is "I don't know how cops do this job without turning into completely cynical, jaded, paranoid, and aggressive maniacs". I've been on about 24 hours total of ride alongs in some "rough" areas and hit my lifetime quota. It's that disturbing, terrifying, and high-stress. After each "shift" it would take me a while just to start to reconcile what I experienced.
I think anyone would have a tough time dealing with someone who (for example) tries to kill you, threatens your family, spits on you, etc while still treating them decently and humanely. In many areas this is over and over, day after day.
In the US especially police are basically the "catch all" for all of the other (ample) problems in our society. The people on both sides are often in impossible, no-win situations.
When I was on a ride along and I watched a guy who just brutally beat his pregnant girlfriend (who was bleeding on the ground in the front yard) charge at us and end up rolling around on the ground with the cop just what they "wanted me to see"? Turns out he was "going hard" because he had a warrant for armed robbery.
Same goes for the time the cop pulled over a bunch of gang members (Latin Kings) who threatened to kill us and started making threatening movements in the car (we backed up and he called in some kind of "tactical team" that blocked the street and ordered them out one by one).
Or when I watched a guy shove an EMT out of his front door, run in the kitchen, grab a knife, and swipe it at the cop because he beat his partner unconscious who was bleeding from the head on the kitchen floor? I was personally and directly in multiple situations where I witnessed these things and was terrified and probably a little traumatized as a result.
There's more but I'm not kidding when I say this stuff was traumatic. This was 10 years ago and it's still fairly difficult for me to talk about but I do occasionally because of viewpoints and responses like yours.
This is not "what they wanted me to see". Ride along programs exist to give ordinary citizens a view into a "day in the life". Of course when on a ride along they will be on their best behavior but for what it's worth the officer I was with was an acquaintance of mine so he didn't hold back doing horrible things like "Oh that girl looks hot, she has a taillight out. I want to introduce myself". He pulled her over, talked her out of the car to "look at the light", and spent a while flirting with her. Seriously, that happened too. Disturbing.
In the two domestic violence situations I described I was a little uncomfortable at the level of force he used to respond to them, which is so confusing and conflicting because moments before that I thought I was going to get killed or seriously injured. It really messes with you. Was it "reasonable" to order those gang guys out of the car, make them lie face down on the ground, handcuff them, call in gang unit detectives to line them up, take pictures of them, and question them handcuffed while sitting on the curb? To this day I have no idea.
I have seen the studies. In terms of death, serious injury, etc law enforcement doesn't even crack the top 10 most dangerous professions. However, in my experience I was in very real fear for my life at least once each time I went out. I either ran away or stood there paralyzed thinking "If this guy wins this fight I'm dead". It's not a good sign when you finally realize "They think I'm a cop. Problem is I have no weapons, no protection, and no training. This is even more dangerous for me." At one point the cop did something like "I'm not supposed to show you this but if things get really bad here's how you unlock the rifle in the car".
I would hope that people can recognize what it does to you psychologically to see this side of humanity every day. It's a lot different than being a logger and worrying about a tree falling on you, or being an electric lineman and worrying about slipping and getting electrocuted. Falling off a cell tower, whatever.
It's very eye opening, scary, disturbing, and confusing all around. I watch the Youtube body cam footage with either slant and think "Yeah, that's what it's like - good, bad, and ugly".
I did a ride along in the 80s and was paired with a deputy who worked a tough area. They wanted to show me the worst of the worst, so that in case I decided to pursue a career in LEO I would know what it could entail. My deputy only responded to what he felt were serious, exciting calls. Scared the crap out of me. But he was honest enough to say that most of his days weren't like the stuff I saw in my week. This wasn't a one day thing, but kind of a pre-screening thing for a LEO career. I'm not sure that an "ordinary citizen" can do this just to see what it's like anymore due to liability on the part of most police departments.
I too saw my deputy use force that I felt was uncalled for. And demeaning behavior towards people who were just hoping someone could help. He also did crap like speed whenever he felt like it, broke a million traffic laws when it wasn't necessary, and behaved like a stereotypical bad cop. Imagine how Hank Shrader acted in Breaking Bad. Everyone was assumed to be a scumbag and guilty of something.
I have family and friend in LE, and my neighbor has been a captain in our city since I moved here. And I have a coworker who used to be a CO at the state pen. Dealing with the inmates, etc can be corrosive. You see people at their worst.
But that's what they're paid to do. The system needs to address this as best as possible so that LEO (and COs) can cope with the stress and don't develop an "us vs them" attitude. My CO coworker talked about how a lot of the COs just loved to mix it up with inmates. And my LEO friends talk about how these jobs naturally attract people with either too much adrenaline/testosterone or an inability to control themselves under stress. But if you're LEO, you sure can't easily get psychotherapy.
I appreciate you telling your story, and reading my with a charitable mindset.
You came away with a nuanced and complicated view on policework, which is probably close to reality. Is that really the story these YouTube body-cam compilations tell?
The problem with YT Channels is of course they're there to optimize views for their revenue. From what I can see that's why they tend to target two audiences in terms of their content:
1) Pro law enforcement - show the worst of "criminals" and the best of police.
2) Anti law enforcement - show the worst of police.
Sadly there is plenty of content available for either and a viewer needs to make sure their content consumption diet includes both for a realistic view. Of course the YT algorithm is an element in this as well - if you want more of either it's more than happy to serve that up for you to further entrench your preconceived notions.