We've been "the criminals" for a while.
Closure rates for most reported crimes are at all time lows.
At the same time, because of the proliferation of cameras in society, cops are more and more frequently being documented doing shit that was previously presumed to be "the exception" and "annecdotai": escalating innocent situations into deadly force incidents, assuming any citizen's knowledge of their rights and duties towards law enforcement means they're "Obstructing" an investigation or "Not Cooperating/Complying" with an officer's -often blatantly unconstitutional- demands, and on, and on, and on.
I find it especially ironic how they will treat anyone in possession of a sidearm not just as a criminal (carrying a weapon is not an illegal act) but as a direct threat to them personally (if you carry a gun to protect yourself from "bad guys", and you have no obligation to protect me from those same bad guys, then what do you think I should/am going to do to protect myself from the "bad guys"?) when the odds are dozens of times greater that the guy you proned out on the side of the road during a traffic stop because he did his duty and informed you he had a sidearm on his person (don't laugh; I'm personally aware of cops who brag about doing this to CCW permit holders) wouldn't just a little restraint of your "RESPECT ME" complex be in order here?.
In short, they can't/won't solve the crimes REPORTED to them, so in order to keep from looking completely ineffective, they have to make crimes out of otherwise harmless encounters with the sheep.
