"Legal authority over the public"

No, you don't. You are an arbiter created by the community to find and stop crime.

Iv gotten this question all the time on police interviews: "what is the role of a police officer and what authority do you belief an officer has?"

You are not a dictator, you are not an overlord, you don't have power to unlawfully move people. You can't change the law and you cannot disobey the law. You are an agent of the community in the name of upholding what the law makers of that community deem moral and fit. If a community comes together and says "fuck the police, we are disbanding them" slashes all funds to zero and fires the police chief, it's over. It's dumb in my opinion, but it's over. This does happen, if you google "disband police departments" it comes up.

You cannot have a job without the community and the community cannot truly be safe without you. You preform an externally important role in the community and the community places their trust in you.

To quote a police one article that comes up a lot: "Myth: I own this road/area/patrol. "No! You are given delighted authority over a jurisdiction in the name of the public good."

Never forget who you serve and why you serve. To assume dominance is to follow down the path of darkness. Don't be a sith!

My former prof was a police chief for 5 years, deputy chief for 10 and worked most of the other areas for well over 20 years. He retired after nearly 35ish years of service.

He always taught new recruits: "ask yourself, am I doing justice? Just because you can does not mean you should".