I was telling my physical therapist about my book, and she said, “Oh yeah, sheriffs are bad.” She then said there was a costume party where no one was allowed to come as a sheriff “for obvious reasons.”
I feel like this was more obvious to in the 70s / 80s?
Maybe that's just my own experience, though. My dad, small farmer, lifelong politically active Republican (in Wisconsin, where there were many forms) was Not A Fan.