One understated and very realistic cop scene in The Sopranos, is how cagey the police are to the witness of the Bevilaqua murder, when he asks for more information about the deceased, to keep them from knowing how much danger they are in

People often forget that you can be a fairly ruthless or callous individual without being corrupt.

I don’t believe either if the cops that the witness was talking to were corrupt, but they were deliberately keeping him in the dark, as obviously if he knew organised crime were involved then, he is less likely to testify.

I imagine that if you are a cop and have a chance to bring down serious mob figures and make a career making bust, you pretty easily think of the civilians involved as collateral.

It is a similar tradition to Goodfellas, the DEA cops who arrested Henry at the end were doing their job and weren’t crooked but there is almost an overzealous approach.