[westopher]

No doubt it's a hard job, and those that do it well are solid people. There are a lot of them that do not have what it takes to do that job doing it though.
I went to school to be a paramedic. The main component is that no matter what happens, is that you give someone the best care possible. Could I treat someone that drove shitfaced and just killed a family? Fuck no. That's why I didn't pursue the career after finishing school. There are LOTS of cops that should have made that same decision, and based on much more trivial experiences for judging people.
Regardless, they get paid more than fire fighters and nurses, and WAY more than paramedics, which isn't reasonable IMO.