They are different even today in first world countries. Where I live, becoming a police officer is a three year education (equivalent to a bachelor's degree) an

They are different even today in first world countries. Where I live, becoming a police officer is a three year education (equivalent to a bachelor's degree) and it's not easy to get accepted to the programme. Training on what the law actually says, de-escalation, handling mentally ill people etc. is an important part of this. As a consequence, most cops are good human beings who care about their community.