Here in San Antonio, the police force are very professional, well trained, and do their jobs very well, in my area at least. There's a pretty astronomical crime rate, but if someone actually calls something in, the first car will be there in five minutes and backup within ten. I respect them quite a lot, and they have to put up with a lot of crap from the locals.
There are a few officers that don't deserve respect (racist, abusive, unfair, etc, but no one I've had to deal with) But I haven't seen them