Have you met a cop? They want violent power tripping assholes, they don’t care if anyone admires them. Like I said, the first modern police force was empowered by the state to catch runaway slaves. Most early police forces were used as strike breakers, they weren’t pillars of the community.

What in that statement says that I’m ‘whitewashing’ the police?

The part where you stated that they at one point in history attempted to restrict their hiring practices based on generally admired qualities.

What day are we talking about here? Because that seems like an old house wives tale that is attempting to white wash the violent history of policing.

There was no time period where police were actual leaders or responsible with their power. The history of modern policing can usually be traced back to slave hunters or privatized security agencies who were mainly used to murder labour movements.