Back in the day, and I can only refer to my Canadian experience, guys chose to get into policing because it was easy. You didn't need any special skills, not even a high school diploma although grade 10 was a must. You had to be at least 5 foot 10 and pass a basic physical exam and have no outstanding issues like drinking underage or dangerous driving, etc. My friends and I identified them as bullies in school and we'd joke that they'd found their true calling: getting to bust heads without any backlash.
Fast forward about 40 years and it's completely different. A high school diploma is a must but most don't get in with that because the competition is fierce. The force I worked for, most of their recruits had university degrees or had, at the very least, taken law and justice at community colleges. Most of the recruits had special qualities like multilingual, pilot's license, SCUBA and psychology and law degrees. The height restrictions disappeared when they started getting women recruits and minorities applying for the job. We'd get ex-military applying but it wasn't a pre-requisite and it wasn't a slam dunk.
The biggest change over the years for me was the psychological testing. It was pretty strenuous and it weeded out a lot of the Lethal Weapon and Dirty Harry types who were itching to wear a gun. We failed a couple of times, but those situations were dealt with pretty quickly.
That being said, I think there are many officers who view the general public with distrust. I don't know whether society in general give them fodder or if an authoritarian mindset develops over time. Those psychological tests should be compulsory ever 5 years or so, IMO.
