Now that you mention it, it is like that a bit, I think they were raised with respect for the uniform, whereas now we have the spoiled brats, who never had a good father who to uphold value to, they are missing those instilled values and those reasons to protect, they rather just serve whatever they please, actually to serve and protect is a great maxim, if only it was upheld properly.
If everything was balanced, cops would be a great addition to a stable society, there even were times when cops were "the last line of defence" and moderated communities in tough times.
In my mind that is what force should serve, to bring in a sense of security and trust. Not to bring in fear and a concrete rule of a "party", people should be able to govern themselves. And in a way that works for everybody.
And it used to be like that. There were always the occasional hard case, but for the most part they were pretty regular guys that had a job to do. Now it seems that they all have a gestapo mentality.
Times change and with them the narratives that people hold and portray.
It used to be people were free and had the responsibility in their hands, it has changed during the past 100 years in most places towards: The state can say what is ok, what business is winning, what market is growing.
Nowadays, people are viewed as terrorists, if they don't openly allow others to go through their shit.
And unless we continue doing the same shitty "job" we won't make it out of the stuck up "economy", debt is piling up on everyone, less people are wondering why and more continue to push narratives.
We don't need more jobs and more order(bureaucracy), I would argue we need more freedom and peace, to stop doing shit we don't need and to start going where we want to be. If only more people stopped to think we might even find solutions :D.