Cops and Robbers

I was walking through town today after a lovely brunch with friends and we decided to explore the local toy store.  It was fantastic with all sorts of vintage and unusual offerings.  We spent a while looking through the "special" section and then ended up in the everyday toys section.  It was there that I saw it, right in the middle of all the other play sets.  Instead of your average castle or school or maybe even pirate ship there was a police station/jail play set complete with escapee.  There are also all kinds of weapons on the wall in the police station, so that your police man (there were no visible females) can kick some plastic butt.  It's just not what I expected to see, especially in the "regular" section of the toy store.  

It just seems strange to be marketing this type of toy to a child.  I mean, I remember playing cops and robbers when I was little but for that you had to make up everything on your own.  There was no plastic jail cell and no plastic police men to beat down the robber with plastic batons.  It seems dangerous to me to start prescribing this type of play to children in such a bright and shiny way.  

Is the real intention here to offer kids a fun and wholesome toy?  Or is to normalize the idea of social control to children early on?  I guess it's obvious how I feel.  If you get kids to enjoy being the "good guy" that keeps the "bad guys" in jail then they'll learn to trust the good guys and support them with a little less push back.