( CNN ) -- `` One of the unfortunate realities of policing , '' New York police Commissioner William Bratton said after the killings of Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu , `` is that you put that blue uniform on and you become part of the thin blue line between us and anarchy . '' This `` Thin Blue Line '' concept , which first appeared in a 1966 police documentary , reflects the conservative worldview of police culture . Most citizens can be forgiven for going through their day without thinking of anarchy or barbarians storming the gates . But many police , especially in New York City , see themselves as a thin blue line besieged by both a liberal and criminal world , neither of which they particularly like or understand . Large protests , especially when they 're anti-police , solidify this belief because police see firsthand just how thin their blue line actually is . Police know they are outnumbered and sometimes outgunned , even while presenting a front of dominance and control . At any given moment , in this city of 8.4 million people , there are close to 6,000 police officers on duty . Certainly there are more than 6,000 violent criminals . Last year there were 86,000 felony arrests in New York . Were these felons able to rise up en masse , it 's not just the police who would be overwhelmed . When I was a police officer in Baltimore , I would drive around and put out one brush fire after another . It would have been easy to be overwhelmed by the lives broken by repeated bad choices , by the mentally ill , the children who grow up without hope , another murder victim , the literal stink of society 's least wanted and the sheer magnitude of human idiocy . As to police danger , it should n't be overstated ( police officers are paranoid enough as is ) , but the danger is n't just in the small though real risk of being attacked and killed . What screws with your head is the constant occupational demand of hyper alertness -- of having to engage with and confront danger , and always on danger 's terms . When I cleared a drug corner , sometimes I could n't help but wonder why the dealers did n't just jump me . Effective compliance is as much earned as ordered , but I do n't think they obeyed me because they liked me ( at least I hope not ) . Bluster aside , my job and safety depended on respect and deference to my authority . That said , some of the thin blue line rhetoric is less about public and personal safety than political ideology ( and contract negotiations ) . Of course , many police hate Mayor Bill de Blasio ( just as they hate President Barack Obama ) . Police tend to be conservative . The last time New York had both a liberal mayor and contract negotiations , police actually rioted . Drunken officers rushed the steps of City Hall , damaged cars and slandered Mayor David Dinkins with racial epithets . Reporters were attacked . Police even took over the Brooklyn Bridge . Ideology aside , there 's no evidence that Democrats are worse for police . Despite the horrible assassinations of Liu and Ramos , we have not seen any sustained increase in violence directed toward New York City police officers . Nationwide and in New York , line-of-duty deaths have been on the decline since 1970 through Republican and Democratic administrations . Indeed , they 've fallen during the Obama years . In a democratic society , we demand a lot from our police , as we should . We owe police and each other respect and lawful compliance . In return , and without being subservient on the job , police must remain public servants . Police need to show greater empathy and tolerance for disagreeing and even disagreeable citizens , including elected officials . But when the mayor , the President or the attorney general are seen -- incorrectly in my opinion -- as being `` anti-police , '' this is viewed as more than a personal slight to police . Refusing a lawful order , resisting arrest or taking the side of a criminal in a fight with police is not just a `` reasonable people can disagree '' situation . An attack on the thin blue line is perceived as an existential threat to working policemen and women . Blame politicians for idiotic laws ; blame society for racial injustice ; blame the war on drugs for mass incarceration ; blame a violent gun culture ; blame poverty . We can improve society without blaming police officers . And we also need to move beyond the thin blue line . We can do better .
Peter Moskos : Many police see themselves as a `` Thin Blue Line '' besieged by criminals , liberals . Police tend to be conservative , but no evidence Democrats are worse for police , he says . An attack on the thin blue line is perceived as a personal and existential threat , Moskos says . Comment: Police must accept disagreement from citizens , officials and see beyond blue line .