At the risk of being 'that guy' on these forums, I'm going to come out and say that most cops are misguided at worst. The thugs and bullies (while a larger percentage than in the pop at large) stick out and attract attention. Most cops want either to get through the day and go home with no incident or want to feel like they're doing some good in their communities. Whether its a 70/30 or 90/10 ratio of good to bad, I'm not sure.
Hope so. What I see seems different.. unsuccessful, insecure, macho, chip on the shoulder, trophy wife/girlfriend who praises their manly community service, self-adoring, dimwitted, jock types wear the badges wherever I go. At least that's the sort I've dealt with.. with one exception, which happened to be the worse cop I've ever dealt with: a butch woman who had it out for me from the get-go. Only time I was ever arrested, for the major crime of skateboarding.
I think you're right that some want to "feel like" they've done something positive, but I'm afeared most of em don't really care. It's most important to
appear like they've done something good.. and all that takes is the uniform.
By the way.. cop mannerisms. What's with the bodybuilder-arms-stiff-and-away-from-the-body thing all about? Bulletproof vest? That way of striking a pose looks especially cool when accompanied by those sporty sunglasses (the kind that you can't see through and wrap around to cover the corners of the eyes too).