The protests against excessive use of force by police led to...excessive use of force by police.
It is the tough guy culture of police and their thin skins that underlies the problem.
The New York City Department of Investigation Report on police response to the George Floyd protests in the City observes in its introduction:
Police officers are given extraordinary powers—to carry a gun in
a city where few lawfully can, to detain and arrest under the authority
of the state, and to use force where necessary to protect their own lives
or the lives of others. Extraordinary demands are made on them as well:
responding to every conceivable emergency, bearing witness to the worst
things human beings do to themselves and one another, protecting the
weak and vulnerable, and investigating crime to bring justice to victims
and their families and uphold the rule of law. In turn, the public expects
and demands what should be rather ordinary things: that the police
carry out these responsibilities without bias or misuse of their authority,
that they willingly and effectively mete out discipline to officers who fail
to meet these standards, and that they submit to public accountability
for their actions. How the police respond to public protests against police
misconduct puts both the importance, and the fragility, of public trust
and legitimacy on full display.
N.Y.P.D. Badly Mishandled George Floyd Protests, Watchdog Says - The New York Times
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