You are correct, I'm not presenting the two as diametrical opposites though. What are diametric opposites, though, are the cultural attitudes behind the respect

You are correct, I'm not presenting the two as diametrical opposites though. What are diametric opposites, though, are the cultural attitudes behind the respective ideas. "We implicitly trust the police, and if they break the law they probably had a good reason" vs. "We hold the police to a higher standard of behavior, because in allowing them to use violence in their work, we have granted them much power."