I love them as well. My bro in law is one. He's a Lt and about to promote to Captain and get back out on the streets. He has that 'courage' you speak of that I also do not have. To him, everyone is a bad guy. His favorite thing to do is put stupid people in jail. Unfortunately, the jails are full of them and so are the streets. Like you, I see them on an almost daily basis. At family gatherings the stories are quite good around the table with me, an EMT, hubby, a firefighter, and bro in law the copper. I love using your terms, "plod" and "water fairies" around them, cuz it gets right up their noses. Most of the time we tell the stories just for the shock factor..forcing my sister and mother up from the table. It's almost like a contest at who can get them up first. Our police department is creating an 'advance team' where the officers are all EMT certified. After listening to mine and my husband's stories, it's motivated him to put in for this new team.