>I think your claims are exaggerated beyond reality,

I'll fight for your right to believe whatever you want. Even when I disagree strongly.

>1) Police have dangerous jobs, particularly in the inner city, but by no means are they helpless victims of wanton violence.

Great. Then what do you call police, who've taken off their body cameras, badges, and name plates: blinding, maiming, and ruthlessly battering people, unprovoked, on camera? If they'd kept their body cameras we could have a much more enlightened discussion.

>2) Police do not brutalize poor and minority neighborhoods. Although the overall trend is that violent crime is going down, these neighborhoods have become significantly less safe and less lawful in just a few weeks of reduced police presence, based on recent crime statistics, particularly shootings and murders, but even simple lawlessness like a 4000% increase in fireworks complaints.

The whole point of a protest is to signal to those being protested against that they are not untouchable. That their lives are not as safe as they'd believe. Burning down precincts is a way of saying we'd rather no police then the thugs masquerading as police in this city. Those statistics are meaningless. The protectors of society have gotten drunk with power and hate. This is the price we all must bear on the path to righting these wrongs. The sooner we all do what it takes to reach compromise the less we will all suffer.

>3) Police work has generally gotten safer over the last few decades, for example measured in annual officer deaths which peaked near 300 in the 70s and now hovers around 150. [1]

So, can we find a way to keep people safe from the police?

>4) Desperate communities which have little left to lose except their lives — I think this is hyperbolic even to describe inner cities where dozens die every weekend from civilian violence, e.g. Chicago’s bloodiest weekend last week where 85 were shot, 24 fatally. These communities by majority polling support greater police presence and funding, not less.

When a community burns down a precinct or creates autonomous zones they are challenging the most basic structures of our society and daring those protested against to show their true colors. How many cops need to get fired for posting horrendous, racist, genocidal, rants publicly before we accept that police nationwide are not fit for duty?

>5) I’d say police academy training is fundamentally different than, for example, trade school apprenticeship. The apprenticeship system essentially has you working the job but under some level of supervision, until you get your license at which point you can work independently. The apprenticeship phase is similar to the supervision that officers receive every day in their squad. The key different is officers have a structured rank and rigid reporting structure, you can’t get a police license and then open up your own police shop. The overall police force performs the same function as the apprenticeship framework in trade crafts. Unlike a licensed electrician/plumber/barber, the officer never gets the opportunity to strike off on their own, but it is true that they enter the force as a low-ranking peon with fewer hours of upfront training than the barber who after their 1,000 hours can open their own unsupervised shop.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/06/04/two-off...

Ironic, no?