Not merely "supposed to" protect them, but in fact do protect them everyday, and are the reason that many of those protesting them have not been killed by the criminals they hold up as victims. Yes, some of these protectors whose job conditions them toward a predisposition to overly interpret threats also sometimes either go too far or cause harm when their was no real threat to protect from. Calling them out on those instances and seeking real solutions is good.
I agree, and I think most if not all posters in this forum do, too.
But it is destructive and "fucked up" when idiots direct more ire at these fallible protectors than the people in their communities (often their friends and family members) that are many times more dangerous and do nothing positive compared to the cops trying to go after those people.
I don't think it's fucked up, I think it's human nature.
People will be upset, heartbroken, bitterly disappointed, and angry that members of their own community rob and rape them, but they're going to be completely outraged when the person who is supposed to protect them turns out to be just as much of a threat, if not more. That's what's been happening in our communities, and what's been fueling the protests in Ferguson, Milwaukee, Baltimore, NYC, etc. The police have geared up for war and the needless deaths of citizens are being casually brushed aside with an airy "s/he should have known that being a child and committing no crime doesn't mean the police won't kill them on sight for their childish behavior" or "s/he should have been more docile, compliant, submissive, or sane".
The police are supposed to protect and serve the public. They are paid to do it. They are trained to do it. And when they fail, they should be sorry they failed. When they make a mistake, they should be appalled and remorseful. When they kill an innocent, or a child engaged in harmless child's play, or an accident victim seeking help, or even a criminal that didn't have to die so another life could be saved, they should at least understand they made a mistake and seek to avoid making it again. But sometimes they don't. Sometimes they act like arrogant assholes who loudly proclaim that the innocent citizen they killed should have known better than to act as though their not-illegal behavior wasn't likely to get them killed.
Of course, had the officer managed to kill the assailant first, the thug would have become yet another #BLM cause celebre.
It's quite apparent that many people in the US are really pissed off at the police, and they will take any
cause celebre they can take to influence public opinion.
And the influence of lionizing violent criminals as the saints of their cause has been to help fuel right-wing extremism, including Trump's candidacy. Irrational reactions and methods, even if rooted in real injustices, only serve to fuel and increase support for irrational counter-reactions and methods, and do no good in moving toward a solution to the real problem.
The only people I have seen making saints out of the victims are Pope Derec and his acolytes. Everyone else is focused on how the police should handle interactions with the public and how the courts should handle cases where the police fucked up.
