They are people, and they are doing their jobs. It's just that people are capable of horrible crimes, and these jobs shouldn't exist.

And nothing works better at implementing a police state than a fervent belief that your nation and culture are somehow 'special' and occupy a unique place in history. It allows you to disregard hard-learned lessons of the past. Lessons like 'Tyranny lurks always just around the corner, and the speed and ease with which it will manifest itself, is as breathtaking as it is terrifying."

The jobs should exist but there should be some actual oversight with serious penalties for transgressions.

Heh, to be clear I'm not saying there should be no police, rather that what these police are doing shouldn't be part of the job description.