The problem is the vast amount of indifference in the middle and the ridiculous levels unions go to protect terrible police.
We need soldiers. We need firemen - and officers. We (collectively) try to make them better, through experience, through guidance (yes, good cops leading young ones to NOT go astray). Know this - bottles and bricks and tree limbs are being thrown at GOOD COPS. GOOD COPS are having their cars/SUVs destroyed. GOOD COPS are out there this week saving lives. Arresting people, being forceful at times as well, yes. That is the job.
PEACE in Minneapolis. Peace in New York.
I disagree on one thing here. I think the basic job description of police needs to change. The whole notion that civilians need to be controlled by force is the root of the problem. What if beat cops were, essentially, social workers and conflict resolvers who were hired from that neighborhood? Most illegal activities are not violent and require not a violent subjugation but rather an authority figure who bears calm witness and has a tactical team behind them if it's really needed. And that person has more authority because he's your neighbor, he's a part of your community, rather than someone who comes in as an armed and menacing stranger from some distant burb. If you're British, then you know a bit about an approach that's more that direction.
When I was in England I never felt fear or anxiety around police. They came across far more friendly, less authoritarian, more likely to just issue a warning on unruly behavior and call on the person's dignity rather than squashing it. I remember seeing these Senegalese guys horsing around, one late night, I sorta knew who they were, and soon a couple beer bottles are smashed on the street. Bobby comes along and basically says, cmon mate, you want some little kids cutting their feet on those shards? They issued drunken apologies, and managed to pick up most of the shards and put them in a bin. And
that was it. End of story. Peacekeeping can happen. And without treating people like garbage.