The current system is not working. It is based in a racist concept that has not been updated in hundreds of years. There is no protecting and surviving. It is about compliance and power.
I recently read how crime has to stop. And if the crimes stop, drugs and gangs miraculously disappear, the police will treat black people better. First of all, we all know that crime will never completely disappear. People are going to keep peopling—good, bad, ugly. The difference, however, is the way black and brown thugs, drug dealers, and murders are caught and held accountable.
Black and brown people are given twenty years up to life sentences for crimes their white counterparts commit yet serve less time. Petty crimes come with sentences that are greater than pedophiles and rapists, but I digress. Daily the people in "those" communities are fighting back. Unless you take the time to research these underserved neighborhoods, you will not have an accurate concept of what's going on. The news isn't going to tell you about organizations that address community issues without corporate funding. But the resources available are based on racist systems that are built into America's fabric. Like policing.
No other line of work where people's lives are on the line has zero accountability. If the law enforcement workers f@ck up. There is no balance. Police officers are no longer required to live in the communities they serve. They are afraid of the people they should be protecting and serving. And they are grossly undertrained. People under the influence of drugs or having a mental health crisis should not be handled by the police department.
We're not pissing and moaning about cops. We're pissing and moaning about the current structure of policing. And to assert that ALL police officers are moral and good is ignorant. Sadly the ones that are crap are a reflection on the whole team because speaking out leaves those good officers open to ridicule and a lack of support in life or death situations. It has to change. The current system was set up to do exactly what it's doing, which is not ok.