The point I'm trying to make, which is not hyperbole, is that there are lots of people who basically rely on the police to keep the peace. If someone comes into the store where they work and starts pissing on the ground, or acting aggressively, or breaking things, or threatening people, they call the police.
These kind of interactions are common. They aren't visible to people (like me) whose only interactions with the police is occasionally reporting property crimes.
> Only people who never have to deal with the police say things like this. Their only experience with policing is reading articles about how evil cops are.
but also people who have to deal with the police but never have any positive experiences with them.
Or to put it another way - people who have positive experiences with the police wouldn't ask if they ever do anything beneficial for society.
But somehow phrasing it that way makes it sound like these people are perhaps not so plentiful.
> edit - people are responding with anecdotes of the police being unhelpful.
Which is it? You want to get pedantic about what is "suggested", make a comment about how "/Only/ people who never have to deal with the police say things like this", then people come out to show how they have had bad dealings with the police, and now words don't matter?