One thing I would like to point out is that little chart leaves out the Rebel group. Most people playing as Civilians are doing so by choice. Going out, working at mining/drug running/excavating will get you plenty of money to zip in and out of a Rebel post and grab more powerful weaponry and armor than bounty hunters have access to. Considering as well the sheer amount of hatred I've encountered from most Rebels simply because I'm a BH, any time I go for a bounty I have to be extremely careful, more so than when I'm robbing people/stores. I've had rebels interfere with an arrest just because I'm a BH.
I tried bounty hunting a few months ago before the buffs, and quit almost immediately because going after anyone with decent weaponry and armor was suicide. The buffs aren't unreasonable.
If someone is running around Kavala as a pistol banger, harassing new players (I still remember when I joined the server *shiver*), why shouldn't bounty hunters be able to assist in keeping the peace?
And yes, a lot of bounty hunters aren't great at RP. Part of that is many times when I try to initiate RP, I get shot immediately, and a tac vest doesn't help a ton. Additionally, if you are a solo player like me, surprise and speed are often your best assets. You never know when someone is meta-gaming via TS or something and providing info on their location to a group member. Got nailed yesterday when a bounty conveyed to his gang where he was.
I don't believe that BH's are over-powered. Compared to an average Civilian, yes, they have access to better stuff. But compared to weapons both the Police and Rebels have, the BH's are still less powerful. And again, a Civilian is only a Civilian because they haven't purchased Rebel weapons.