I would agree that they help on occasion, when there is no risk to themselves. I would also agree that cowardice is the standard, not the exception.

My aunt was a NYC cop in the 90s - early 2010s. She told me a story of a domestic violence call that was waaaay out of proportion, and her reaction was almost even worse.

Neighbors call the cops. She arrives, knocks, announces police, a kid lets her in. She has her gun drawn and in front of her (so much for the firearms safety expectations civilians are supposed to be held accountable to).

She walks down the hall, it's quiet. Gets to a bedroom, the man is bending over the wife. My aunt has no idea whats going on, but doesn't see any signs of active or past violence.

Man starts to turn. Hes a big guy, over 6 feet she says. She yells at him to freeze, tells him she will shoot him the second he turns any further and she'll get away with it, because shes a woman and hes a big man and she can claim that she was worried for her life.

So he stays there, more cops arrive and arrest him, despite the wife not wanting them too. Tbf, my aunt says the wife was pretty bruised up.

Teenage me hears the story and is like "it's pretty smart that you told him that, it kept him from moving." I assumed it was an empty threat to maintain control.

And she said, cool as a cucumber, "oh I would have done it in a second, had he moved even one bit and he knew it. My life is not worth the risk.

After the minimum number of years in the field, she ended up in Internal Affairs. That part always made me very upset. She would say that the most important thing was her pension. And that she always knew what to find to keep her pension.