The new police chief is a peach though. The most conspicuous trait is that doesn't mention police misconduct. He's young, smug, likes cameras and reporters fawn over him. Are they cynical or are they duped?
It's a janus-faced system. The police have developed a habit of lying in court. If he is effective, the public will accept capricious enforcement. The reporters will stay on message, the ranks and file will recognize that their authority is neither justice nor law.
Tranquile civil life doesn't last forever. I don't think the public ever recognizes the infrastructure of depotism. When it's built, they can wait decades, even generations until they are claimed by their rightful master.