I do think The Police are underrated. They don't get talked about nearly enough, I think all of their albums are excellent.
Maybe it's because Sting is a pretentious twat, I can't argue with that. But at least when he was in this band he was a fantastic songwriter, and a very underrated bass player. Actually maybe that's why they aren't considered as hip as their new wave peers, they were classically trained musicians with a background in jazz and prog.
Sting used to play in jazz fusion bands, Copeland used to drum for prog rock weirdos Curved Air and Summers used to play with Soft Machine, Eric Burdon & The Animals and Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord.
Fun fact, when The Police first formed they had another guitarist but it was through another project called Strontium 90 where they would become the band we know today, it was founded by former Gong bassist Mike Howlett, it was Howlett who introduced Summers to Sting and Copeland. Copeland was brought onto the project when Henry Cow drummer Chris Cutler wasn't available. After this project desolved Sting decided to hire Summers as a second guitarist for The Police but he eventually replaced the other guy.
They were prog musicians disguised as a new wave band.
My favorite member is Summers, I know his sound wouldn't be as unique if it wasn't for that chorus pedal but he really is a fantastic guitarist.