The other unaddressed issue in this whole debate is candidate quality: most u.s. police forces recruit from a similar pool of people as enlisted armed forces (

The other unaddressed issue in this whole debate is candidate quality: most u.s. police forces recruit from a similar pool of people as enlisted armed forces (and less selectively), they are: 1. HS/GED + potentially a couple years of college (its my understanding that most police officers don;t hold four year degrees) 2. Pass a drug test 3. Pass a criminal background check 4. Pass a rudimentary psych/aptitude test 5. Meet a minimum level of physical fitness A friend who was a marine and did recruiting estimated that about 20% of a graduating U.S. high school class could meet those requirements - you then had to compete with other jobs and trades that were potentially more lucrative/appealing - and in the case with the marines (and i suspect it is similar with police forces) had a couple of motivations for joining (despite what they might say) 1. kill people/beat ass 2. Serve their country community 3. family tradition 4. need a job/job security 5. Challenge 6. uniform and toys when viewed in this context one may not be too surprised at the actions of some portion of police officers