Thoughts on cop candy

Saturday night after the card tournament several of us stood around talking for probably an hour. This was one of those great times that you don't plan, it just happens. Someone makes a comment, someone follows up with a witty rejoinder, and before you know it an hour or two has passed in pleasant company. We had a group that is very talented at that.
There were my two brothers, Kenneth and Phillip, along with Kevin and Eric. I think that is all of the members of the Starving Crazed Weasels...friends, brothers, game players, comedians.
There were some incredibly funny lines you sort of had to be there for. Like watching Eric stand in a mud puddle and periodically lift his foot to let the water drain out. When Kevin cracked back about watching Eric drain his catheter, well...that about finished us.
The crowning moment, however, may have come from Kenneth. He was talking about getting stopped on the way in for Failure to Yield or something like that.
Now, in case you are unaware, Kenneth drives a VW that is sort of bright orange with tinted windows and a custom double spoiler across the back. It is definitely a rig that can (and does) attract notice.
His conversation with the cop brought forth many great lines, including cracks about the cop saying, "Have you learned your lesson or do you need me to give you a ticket?"
Are there more nonsensical lines than things like these? "Have you learned your lesson or do I need to fire you?" "Do you want a spanking?" "Are you going to use cash or do we have to give you a 'Best of Yanni' CD?" These ridiculous rhetorical questions do nothing to enhance the perceived intellect of their author...they just seem like hollow posturing.
Anyway, Kenneth related a line the cop made about his car being "cop candy". Great line. Better line coming up; he then said, "If my car looked any more like a donut I could never go anywhere."
That brought the house down. I, of course, chimed in with my best Homer-sounding "mmmmm....dddooonuuuuuuutttt", but it was a hollow joke after his crack.
On to the point of this post. The job of police is to Protect and Serve. At least, that is what it says on the doors, that is what we were taught...they are civil servants, people whose duty it is to keep the peace, maintain the law, and help citizens where needed.
This is a serious question. Do you believe the police today have this attitude? Or do you think instead they have the attitude that "taking people down a peg" or taking joy in writing tickets, arresting people, etc. as the best part of their job?
I would postulate the theory that every time they write a ticket it is a sign of a flaw in society. Every time someone is arrested it is a flaw in society.
You see, in a society where everyone works for the common good there is no need to steal or kill or hurt or violate another person's right. Though they may have been technologically backwards, many Native American societies were highly advanced. On those rare occasions when someone threatened society, those transgressions were dealt with swiftly and firmly and there was no reoccurence. It is certain nobody took joy in the necessity to punish; the harm to one member was a harm to all.
Contrast that to our society where the courts "win" and "lose" cases instead of mutually strive to arrive at a just and equitable solution. Contrast people anguished that their relative committed an infraction so they themselves inflict the appropriate penalty to maintain peace to our society where the "protectors" of the peace take joy in deliberately seeking out certain sets of people based on appearance.
Okay, so Kenneth drives a flashy car. I know him pretty well and I can honestly say he does not hurt anyone by having a nice vehicle. And having the cop refer to it as cop candy says a lot more about the police and society than it does about Kenneth.
I think maybe the best money saving measure we could take would be to cut the police force in half. That would do more to take criminals off the streets than every other proposed measure combined.