zlacker

When police willfully break rules, there's a very high likelihood that they'll harm an individual, because the police officers' job is (frequently) about use of force against individuals. When pilots willfully break rules, there's a very marginally increased likelihood that they'll cause an aviation accident or incident, because the pilots' job is about safe aviation.

If you're a passenger on a plane whose pilot is doing something unsafe, you'll probably never know, which is different from if you're a victim of abuse by police (because you'll directly experience the consequences individually directed to you). Nonetheless, the pilot's unsafe behavior also has a real potential to harm you, just in a way that doesn't feel intentional or personal, and in a way that's almost always invisible except in case of an after-the-fact investigation.

There are lots of ways that the analogy breaks down, but I see one where I disagree with you: policing does also have "lots of very complex and nuanced situations [...] that require judgment calls" alongside the situations that are best described as willful abuse and crime.

>>schoen+(OP)
policing does also have "lots of very complex and nuanced situations [...] that require judgment calls

I completely agree, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I just meant to point out that this situation was not one of them.