Ok, so acknowledging Orwell's police background is smearing him? Who knew?
Sorry if I misunderstood. I have always thought of him as a journalist first, and a novelist second. I don't think of his brief stint as a policeman anymore than I think of my first job selling cameras. That is why I think it is odd (and on this forum, perhaps an insult) to highlight it.
After all, it's not like he caught Ronnie Biggs, or otherwise distingushed himself as a cop. If it weren't for his account of his work doing animal control (no thoughtcrime there) we probably wouldn't ever have learned of it.