There are indeed many law enforcement officials who abuse their power, but you get that whenever you establish authority, be it to enforce laws or for another purpose. You have to understand that police and law enforcement officials have extremely rigid guidelines, I'm not sure if they could be any more strict, about how police are allowed to act in order to protect the people and themselves. Let me give you an example. A police officer can carry around a gun, yes, but they are rarely allowed to use it. The use of the gun can be authorized in any of the following situations:
-The officer's life is in danger
-There is an imminent threat to the environment, the people, or other law enforcement officials
-The person is armed or poses some type of threat to everyone involved
While there are many other factors, police officers are often advised to shoot-to-wound, not to kill, or to use a non-lethal method of eliminating the target, whether it be a taser, rubber bullets, or something else. Some police officers do abuse their power when it comes to situations like these, however, you must remember that police officers are human too. Most of these people have families and loved ones they want to protect and that they hope to return to after their shift, so to expect an officer not to have fear or make a mistake is both unfair and impractical. Yes, mistakes need to be dealt with accordingly, but they already are being dealt with and they already follow rigid guidelines when it comes to their service.
We can not place the fault entirely on the police, however. We must realize that, as citizens, we are expected to comply with our authorities and obey civil ordinances whether or not we deem them appropriate. Just because we don't like a particular law, doesn't make it any less of a law, thus you are still accountable for anything you do to violate it. Also, constantly pointing out the flaws in law enforcement and demanding a change will not solve anything. Just as law enforcement is made up of human beings, who are naturally imperfect, so are the common people. We make mistakes too, and we must acknowledge that. We are nowhere near perfect, and constantly presenting that fact to each other will make little to no difference, it will just create more problems. The police aren't as heavily armed as people think, and most of the time, they are held accountable for their actions. The police don't just drive around tanks and carry fully automatic rifles, but when they are allowed to use more powerful weaponry, it is used to deal with larger threats. Most of the time police are armed with the simple equipment, unless heavier weaponry is needed. But I've sidetracked enough, so I will just explain the best way that I believe we can solve problems like these.
Of course, the key to solving any major problem that affects our nation is to work together as a civilized people striving towards a common goal. In order for us to truly solve our problem, we need to, as a group, go through the following steps:
1. Acknowledge the problem and set aside any personal bias.
2. Determine what the problem is caused by.
3. Work together to create a solution that benefits everyone.
Those are my final thoughts on the topic.:)
While that sounds easy in writing, it's a lot harder to foresee in person. They have many non-lethal tools at their disposal that they should rely on more often. They intimidate, harass, and otherwise bully people. Even if the cops that act in this manner may happen to be a small percentage... many of them don't get punished for doing things like they, maybe a suspension for like a week while they "carry out an investigation." I think the biggest problem isn't in how the cops behave, but the fact that we have a system that allows them to behave in an unfit manner.