There are real life "Barney Fifes" in every profession not just Law enforcement. But instead of weeding the "Barneys" out of the mix, policies were passed to control the "Barneys" (like keeping your "One" bullet in your pocket) which limited the actions of the good officers and placed them in danger in my opinion. By the way, most Police Officer for their first two or three years in the street get most of their impression about how to be a cop from the TV and the rumor mills rather than actually reading law Books.

I saw many tickets in my town written for driving a car without wear shoes, because they had heard that it was against the law. But there was no such law in my State. The people who got the tickets payed the misdeamor fine anyway because they thought it was the law also and never challenged the tickets. Unfortunately a lot of the people who get into law enforcement get into the job because of the authority of the badge and the power of the Gun that they wear. They are on an ego trip. Those are the "Barneys" who have to be weeded out.

Police Officer today are simple weighted down by so many regulations that they are ineffective in doing their jobs. I wouldn't take a million dollars for the 20 years I served, before retiring on a pension at my first oppertunity. I enjoyed helping the people that I could. I wasn't as worried about the criminals on the street. I expected them to act in the way that they do, It was the people who were supposed to be supporting you that disappointed me. I wouldn't go back and doing it again now for 20 million.