If an interaction with the police revolves around something that is not criminal, such as speeding tickets, that involve a fine, you are effectively their customer so they are polite as long as you are, unless you make them feel in danger by reaching suddenly for things or being born into some stereotype or prejudice the officer has.

If the interaction involves criminal behavior, you are now "other" and you get to see the yucky side. My friends who were in law enforcement fell into people who got high on the control, people who got high on the adrenaline (worse), or people who came from legacy law enforcement family or just wanting to make a difference, trying to do the right things but knowing there were rules to follow and a line to maintain and thus got pulled down with the other two.

I have only had one interaction with police. It ended with them trying to pin the robbery of the store I was working at on me. They had footage of another person running, but couldn't see his face. They couldn't ID his car. The officer on the scene misquoted me and they used that against me. They took me for questioning without telling me I could have a lawyer, and without telling me that my parents should be present (I was under 18). They told me I had to take a polygraph test and tried to use that to bully me into confessing to something I didn't do. I was a child.

If I, a solidly middle-class white guy can have that experience, what is the experience like for marginalized kids?

Now, that is VERY anecdotal, I understand that. But why would I ever open myself up to that kind of liability again?

>But why would I ever open myself up to that kind of liability again?

Because the alternative of living in an anarchist society without law would be worse; where anyone can rob, meme, or rape you with impunity.