Two Way Street

The goal of policing should be to protect and serve. That objective can only be met when the community respects the police. In order for this to happen, the police must respect the populace. Otherwise, you have the broad intimidation of the public by law enforcement that constitutes a police state. In many places in the United States, particularly urban areas like Baltimore, cops are feared and hated by many. Some of the animus against police is misplaced, but some of it is justified. When police bully and browbeat those who they are supposed to be protecting, trust in the law is lost. Generations of official oppression have been visited on certain minorities and poor whites. A few prosecutions of police who have abused the rights of citizens will not erase suspicion of law enforcement by those who see nothing but tyranny when a cop approaches.