Well damn, it's like that? I wonder why academy staff was so adamant that nobody was late Monday morning - and that nobody left until we were released on Friday...
You make it sound like anyone can be a cop. The truth is that a lot of people do not qualify - per that link, only 10% of applicants even make it to the street, and not all of them make it more than a few years.
When I got my first full time position, I was told that only 5% of applicants were qualified. I don't have any statistics behind that, though.
Continued fitness tests are required in NH. What, exactly, is the point of doing repeated background checks after someone is hired? Don't you think that a criminal conviction (or even an arrest) would come out rather quickly?
What other career fields are you comparing this to? I'm not claiming that it requires the knowledge base of, say, an attorney (though attorneys have been embarrassed by cops who know more than them) or doctor, but your insinuation that almost anyone can get in is laughable. The amount of stress can be ridiculous, too -
read this.
Here's some rigorous mental or physical activity that requires a skillset outside of the general population. But that doesn't happen every day, so I guess it doesn't count, right?
I'm not elitist - but I do take offense when people have the attitude "Pfft, anybody can do that. Lazy good-for-nothing cops" - and every time it comes from someone who, most likely, hasn't even spent a day in a patrol car. Yes, there are plenty of people who shouldn't be cops. I know firsthand. However, I really don't like it when people come around and tell me what it takes to do this job. Not that you care.
$0.02