Whether or not people like or appreciate the value of having police to protect and serve their community typically has a lot to do with their perception of whether they and their community are being treated fairly and with justice by those same police. In other words, the police have been granted a lot of authority to do what they perceive that they have to do within communities, just or unjust, subject only to those that overlook and supervise their actions. That is to say, police officers are the strongarm of the state, tasked with being the instrument to exert control over the masses, in a way and manner, that thus precludes that society from devolving into civil chaos.
There are plenty of people that support the police, because they see the police as a necessary instrument to maintain the status quo, and because the status quo appreciates their position, they are thus desirous to see that their position is always maintained and well protected, of which, police officers typically serve that purpose quite well. So then, those that have a good life, live in good communities, and are quite satisfied with their lot, are the same types of people, that generally support the police, because they actually do want order, and only thing that they care about in regards to the law, is that the law is utilized to keep down those that are meant to be kept down, and further that the law is always flexible and amendable enough so that proper consideration is shown to those that are successful and are considered to be upstanding citizens, by having that law be selectively applied.
It doesn’t take a particularly perceptive person to see that the police are consistently used not to uphold justice or to uphold the law as it is written, but rather as an intimidating force so imposed against any and all that have the audacity to challenge things such as social injustice, social inequality, and social change, when those that are empowered do not believe that such should be challenged or changed. The changes so made in America, are often slow to come to fruition, because those that have what they have, aren’t really interested in change, but they are intelligent and flexible enough to recognize that when the tide has basically turned wholly against them, that then and only then, some sort of meaningful change will thus be permitted.
All those that have massive assets and are well-placed within society, are always going to be concerned that perhaps something or somebody might take away what they have or put such in jeopardy, which is why they make it their point to see that the functions of the state, including the police, perform their duties on behalf of the rich and powerful, and none other. As for the police, for the most part, they are agnostic, and as long as they are getting their salary and the benefits that come with being in law enforcement, they will readily answer their call to duty because at the end of the day, what matters to them most is to have the respect and to be properly valued by those that they answer to, along also with them receiving the necessary salary and accouterments to have themselves a satisfactory life.