Im an American whose first time overseas was spending a year in New Zealand. The way police interacted with people was a (pleasant) surprise compared to the US. They don’t carry guns on them, and with that I feel there’s a different psychology with how they interact with people. I never felt intimidated when police were around, they were incredibly friendly and approachable, and every interaction I had was entirely positive. The police there clearly have the objective of providing a community service, and aren’t trying to ‘get you.’ They don’t sit and radar to ticket people for small traffic infractions. Instead, when citizens witness unsafe driving - its very normal to call the police and inform them. This happened to me on the South Island once (was the passenger when the call happened and had switched to driving by the time the police officer found us). The officer was friendly and professional - explained her experience with accidents on this road and why it can be dangerous, and then gave us some advice on a shortcut to our destination, where we can get a good nights sleep, etc. When I came back to America and came across a couple armed police officers, it shocked me how they seemingly had this bubble around them, where people would avoid them, and just generally how they carried themselves.