the vast majority of America's police force is ex-military
That in and off itself is a problem. The military are trained to be aggressive, police are trained to communicate first, aggression second. If they can talk a person down from killing, that should be the approach. For military, it is a simple matter of getting the person in their sights and squeezing the trigger. Vast difference between the two.
Saying that... it keeps coming back to guns. In a country riddled with them, police who get shot approaching cars when pulled over -- they obviously have to step-up their tactics and aggression as a result. This means the innocent get caught in a game where they want to communicate and express their rights, yet the police are more aggressive, towards a military level, where communication is not the first option / little tolerance is given to it.
Do police in Australia make mistakes? Absolutely. But they're nothing like American cops. The amount of shit an Australian cop will take is just mind blowing, when its just an angry persons words. If the person pulls a weapon of any kind, that changes things... but words are just words, and should not be responded with aggression. Follow their direction, sure, that's the law... but they should not penalize for words you state whilst following directions. They have no legal right to tell a person to stop talking, but they do have a legal right to tell you to stay in your car, at the back of your car, stand there, so forth.
It keeps coming back to the threat level... then mix it with racial bias, drugs, and there exists a potent cocktail awaiting to explode upon innocent civilians. To be honest, I have no idea how America will fix these issues without removing guns from everyone but farmers and law enforcement.
