This is merely my opinion but here in the UK the Police are the public face of a system many people feel has lost its way. We direct our anger and disdain at the most public face we can, normally those wearing a high viz jacket with a badge on.
I've had a mixed bag with my encounters with the police. One night after closing time things got a little heated between the group of people I was with and another, tension was brewing and a fight was about to occur. This had been picked up on CCTV so a couple of cars were sent to the location. Whilst all of us were drunk, we still had some sense about us, which is probably why we hadn't started fighting already. The police arrived, asked us what the problem was. I acted as "spokesman" for my group, explained our problem, but then explained that it wouldn't go any further, we would walk off in one direction if the other group agreed to walk off in the other. The officers at the scene said fair enough, no cautions, warnings or anything like that, they just stayed in place for a few minutes to make sure we kept to our word. In that example they read the situation correctly, everyone involved used common sense and we all went on our merry way. If the police had not turned up, then I'm sure several people would have been in hospital 20 minutes later.
On the other end of the spectrum I saw a guy join the taxi que after another night out. He was wanted for something or other and tried to keep a low profile, in an area where all the police vans park in the town center, very clever. He was caught, and although he struggled a bit he had resigned himself to the fact he was spending a night in the cells. As he was being handcuffed I saw an officer pull out the CS spray and sprayed it right into the guys eyes. There could have been a reason but from where I was standing (about 2 feet away) he was neither resisting or being aggressive.
In the middleground we have this example. At around 4:20 in the morning after another night out (I see a pattern forming here, my town really is a shithole on a Saturday night) myself and one of my friends went to get some food, our other friend saying he'd catch up with us. 10 minutes later he turns up, face bloody after having been jumped (they thought he was someone else.) We immediatly took him up the afforementioned taxi area where the police base themselves, only to find none. We rang the police who said they pack up at 4am and if there was no immediate danger we were told to call another number to report the crime. Because we had been drinking (only a little, none of us were drunk) we had to wait untill the next day before my friend could make a statement. This is more of an example of how dodgy the system can be. The police do their jobs but unless they are there at the time for crimes such as theft or assault, nothing will ever come of it.
I don't dislike the police, the ones I have known socially are all nice enough people. When in uniform however they take on a different role, which means even if you are doing nothing wrong you still feel uneasy, especially when driving. You will never drive as well as you will when a police car is sat behind you travelling down the same single lane 30mph road. There is almost a feeling of relief when they make a turning or you pull off and they keep on going, which is ridiculous as they probably barely registered your existance infront of them, heh.
