Ah, remembering the good ole days.
From 1970' to 1975' the annual average of a felonious killing of a police officer was 125 per year.
From 2006' to 2010' the average was 50.
I kinda agree with DIDO that lack of respect generally is more common today than it was 40/50 years ago but I also remember cops were equally respectful if you will. And to defend the average cop a bit here, cops back then had far more leeway to make on the spot judgements but now public policy governs them to approach and act a certain way with so many given situations. Case in point, in the early 70's some high school friends got caught underage drinking and driving. The officer choose to make them park the car, took their keys and told to sleep it off and that he'd come by on occasion and check and when he felt they were able, he'd follow them home to see their parents. The officer then went and called each of their parents, told them the deal and then about daybreak, followed each of them home where the parents waited for them at the door. I know this officer as we deer hunted together and he did what he did because he didn't want the boys to have a record for one stupid night and he also felt walking up to that door facing their parents was going to be harder than walking into a jail cell. A number of weeks later those same boys saw the officer on the street and went up and thanked him for what he did and they never betrayed the judgement and trust the officer had in them. Nowadays, a cop risks his/her job for making such a judgement and I dare say a segment of society (an unthinking one) would also not tolerate the officer's judgement in this case.
This monster in the end has 2 heads to the problem, both with problematic outcomes as we often and tragically see.
beat if you disrespect a cop so you didn't disrespect them. rules were simple.
