Empathetic police are less effective in the face of public criticism. Police officers who endorse an empathetic approach to criminal justice do not perform as well when they sense they are underappreciated, according to new research. Source 4e.
I think most police officers function much better if they are not empathetic as you do not want to have a officer who can get emotional at times. I think a officer that can put their feelings to the side and enforce what needs to be done is the better type of officer. Granted there are times that a empathetic officer can come in handy but I believe those times are too few to make them a good officer.