So basically what you are saying is the police are to blame.
Partly yes, partly no.
The general officers are not in a position of power, regrettably. I am speaking of the training that has been forced upon them along with responsibilities that have been forced upon them that didn't used to be their area of concern.
Here is an easy example. I use this because I do believe most LEO on the street want to use tools that work, tools that are actually effective and produce proven results. So why don't most LE units shut down DARE and stop wasting their time with it?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10450631
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-just-say-no-doesnt-work/
Drug Abuse Resistance Education: The Effectiveness of DARE
https://priceonomics.com/dare-the-anti-drug-program-that-never-actually/
Heck, we have DARE license plates in Indiana...
The third article actually mentions that while the program would be dead on its back and planted in the ground IF we relied only on facts, the truth is it makes us FEEL good. Golly, that is good LE practice, is it?
This is just one issue within LE that I do not personally respect. I do not disrespect the officers that do the DARE program, but I do not approve of the program and as such consider this one aspect of LE that is ridiculous.
I don't think that you would argue that prohibition undermined the respect for LE as a ridiculous exercise. People flocked to speakeasy's and many millions of citizens conspired against LE on the issue of drinking. This was NOT the fault of the LEO's on the street or even in administrative positions, but it was their face the people saw. Regrettably, this was pushed upon them by the external political whims I spoke of earlier.
In the end there are many reasons, not all of which carry equal weight. But I do believe the respect is eroding due to a shift in the internal cultural mindset and the external political forces being placed upon them.
Regards,
Doug