And there are for more cases of poor policing than that.
But there are vastly more again of good policing. I've never personally seen police acting out of line. I have seen them being decent people, upholding the spirit of the law (as opposed to the letter of it) intelligently and ethically, and I've seen a few that are somewhat standoffish and confrontational, but thats a minority in my experience. Plus, good policing isnt news-worthy, its not gossip-worthy, its not the sort that people go blabbing about to their mates or on forums, and it is the kind that happens the vast majority of the time.
Lew makes an excellent point, as well. The police have to uphold the law; they dont write them. They are often, in fact, frustrated with them because they see how they can be misapplied and do more harm to the innocent (or just everyday people being people, like violence in self defence or too much violence out of fear or panic, for example). But they have to stick to the law; they're as constrained by it, moreso in fact, than we are.
Add to that, they are human, they arent infalliable, they arent perfect, there are good police and poor police officers. Pressure for more police and the unpopularity of the job exacerbates that (cant be too picky, training is sometimes rushed or even given by those not optimally qualified). They fall victim to one side of us and them psychologies (see zimbardo experiment for the sort of thing I mean; not police, but its applicable (insofar as its applicable to anything; its not terribly scientific, but it is ellucidating)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment ), they can get a little power drunk, they're susceptible to stress, fear, overreactions, error, they're flawed like the rest of us because they are us, they're people doing a job, with various degrees of competency. But they do a better job, I think, than you make out, and though flawed I'd much rather have them around, exactly as they are, than not.
