Just a short comment. Most of us can understand the need to protest, and sometimes the need to destroy something out of total frustration after an even like another unnecessary murder by police. The frustration rises because each time this happens there is likely to be an investigation, maybe someone gets sanctioned or fired, and there are a few statements from top authorities, like the mayor of the governor, but in the end nothing much happens. So people need to have their voices heard. Whether it is about police brutality or any other issue, protests often lead to excessive response on both sides — with police attacking protesters and protesters, ultimately, maybe breaking a few windows, etc.
One reason these situations often escalate is because they turn into “us versus them” battles. Protesters rally, march, raise their voices. The police come out, form lines, try to enforce the lines, and then start attacking. Little wonder that broken windows, maybe fires follow.
Aside from removing the ultimate cause — bad cops — there is another way that police and municipalities could cope with these situations. If it truly is “ few bad apples”, a welcome response from the police would be to get out ahead of the problem by mounting their own protests. When a cop is killed in the line of duty, think of the giant turnouts they get at the funeral. Similarly, if there is one bad cop, or a few bad cops, who get out of line and hurt the reputation of the force, cops should get out their and organize protests.
This could take the form of police, on their own time, putting out announcements on facebook that “(this town’s) police stand with George Floyd — come join us for a march demanding justice.”
Of course, this would involve breaking down the traditional omarta within many police departments. To do this, there would need to be a push from many of the well-intentioned polices, coupled with pressure from municipalities to root out and prosecute the bad apples.
The point, though, is that if police stepped up immediately to stand for and to demand justice in these instances, they would find the people marching with them, not against them.