"the police" have different connotations, in different settings.

in the dukes of hazzard, the police were the bad guys.

Bill Clinton promised to put 100,000 more police on the streets of the USA, and everyone cheered...

a few years later, the prisons were full of non-violent offenders.

they have weaponized the police.

they label parents as terrorists, when they speak up at a school board meeting,

and some "just doing my job" cops comes in, and drag the parents out.