&gt;a situation where segments of the population are advocating killing cops. And, in fact, cops have been killed just sitting in their cars doing absolutely nothing more than existing.
[...]
&gt;They are very concerned that every time they put on their uniform they become targets for maniacs. They&#x27;d love to be able to walk around without their guns when in uniform but, today, in the USA, that would be suicidal. And today, in the USA, for a cop to approach contact with a civilian not prepared for the potential of a gun being pointed at them would be just as dangerous.<p>That comes with the territory of participating in a violent criminal gang.  Perhaps if, collectively, they behaved more like police instead, it wouldn&#x27;t be as risky for them.  Unfortunately, the cops have been giving people lots of good reasons to be defensive and&#x2F;or seek vengeance, and their actions have eroded trust and respect even in those who aren&#x27;t their usual victims.<p>It may be a small percentage of cops that are bad while the rest just support them, but because their coworkers don&#x27;t bother to stop them, and they are unaccountable and immune to any form of punishment for violating the law, and they take advantage of that to victimize the citizens, they (and their fellow gang members) are naturally going to be at risk of their victims fighting back.  When their victims can&#x27;t get justice through the justice system, it is going to be messy frontier justice.<p>&gt; form follows function<p>And effect follows cause.  We should address the cause.<p>Stop letting police commit armed robbery under the fancypants name &quot;civil asset forfeiture&quot; and start holding them accountable for behaving properly and respectably.  Teach them that throwing flashbangs at babies, shooting at protesters, stealing from people, and randomly arresting people for not being white are not proper respectable behavior.  Teach them about the constitution and the laws of our land.  It&#x27;ll be a long and difficult change, but de-escalating (something police are <i>supposed</i> to do) sure beats the alternative of escalating further.<p>Hundreds of years ago, we had problems with corruption in law enforcement.  That&#x27;s why we have explicit laws against this:  &quot;The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated [...] nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation&quot;<p>While the police are acting as a violent criminal gang, they will be perceived and treated as such.  When they stop doing that, or at least justice occurs, then the problems will be greatly reduced and the police themselves will be much safer.