A childhood belief about police

When I was very small (about 3 or 4 or thereabouts) I vastly overestimated the power of the police. I didn't know about laws (as a concept) that they were also required to uphold and follow as well. Anyhow, I thought they were a villainous, secretive, nasty and somewhat arbitrary gang. I "knew" that if you insulted or looked at them funny they would drag you off to JAIL (all caps to my three year-old mind) but that just not provoking them was no guarantee--JAIL was still a possibility. In addition to this, I thought that the president was far more powerful than he is, and that people who insulted him (anywhere, on any occasion, not just to his face) faced immediate and dire punishment, probably being executed on the spot. This perceived state of affairs bothered me surprisingly little, but it did irritate me a bit that a government would so grossly misuse their power. Because of this I whispered that "the president stinks" or something while I was up in a tree and there was no one in sight. Unsurprisingly I am alive and well.
P.S. I don't live in Myanmar, North Korea, or Uzbekistan (:-D)