Nothing compels them. It is who they are. And they are not alone in being like this.

The better question is, why are so many people in positions of authority like this?

Another police department got caught bending down the notches on their police badges as a way of signifying how many kills a given officer had, and even had a ceremony for officers first kill. Reports say at least 25% of the precinct participated, probably most knew.

American police live in what we call a “siege” mentality; they believe that they’re the only thing protecting society from chaos and crime. This results in a belief that their actions are inherently just, and that any criticism risks exposure of society to the chaos they’re barely holding back.

It’s not a convincing pitch when viewed in the light of blatant police brutality, but it appears to be what they believe.

I believe the positions naturally draws people who are bullies. Not that all of them are, but the power over, and respect from the general population is probably very attractive to people who get a kick out of being asshole. Also, while I can't confirm the prevalence, there's a ton of anecdotes you here about shady hiring practices. There's the now popular story about a department refusing to hire people who had too high an IQ, and a friend told me how a department in a large city was attempting to recruit his cousin, despite him being diagnosed bipolar.

> Also, while I can't confirm the prevalence, there's a ton of anecdotes you here about shady hiring practices. There's the now popular story about a department refusing to hire people who had too high an IQ

this is not just anecdotal, and has even been tested in court[0].

0. https://abcnews.go.com/US/court-oks-barring-high-iqs-cops/st...

That is way beyond what I would consider bullying or asshole behaviour.

take your pick of "us vs them", "thin blue line", or "own the libs"

Racism. They were celebrating their victory.