content: This, all day. Cops are people too, and you're going to get a much better results being respectful and polite than if you're a douche regardless of who the person is. Also, though it goes without saying, the circumstances change quite a bit when you're in a situation requiring police intervention (you calling them because you're reporting a crime). At that point, you really want to tell them as much as you can for the police report if you expect anything to come out of it, because I guarantee you the judge will look at the report, and anything missing will invariably get the "Why didn't you mention that to the police?" (Though, for those who ever find themselves in a situation like this, it's worth mentioning that you can call the dept. later with the report number and amend/add information after-the-fact; it's just been my personal experience that it's better and easier to do it in the moment when everything is fresh rather than waiting).