The world is full of imperfect people; humankind is a flawed species. We have lapses in judgement, irrational biases, and flawed logic used to make decisions. It is therefore inevitable that societies run by human beings will make mistakes, and that is just a fact of life with which we need to learn to cope.

One would think that in a world where no one person can claim to be perfect we would be willing to admit our mistakes in order to begin the process of correcting them. However, not all mistakes are recognized and corrected as they should be, leading to an escalation of the problems the mistakes created.

Examples of this escalation can be found through investigation into the currently multiplying problems with the police systems of America. While I am loath to generalize all police forces as having these problems, it is just easier to assume they are all the same and criticize them accordingly. And I sincerely hope you understand the satirical reference to racism in that sentence.

Many angles exist from which one can criticize the current policing and overall justice system, but I will focus on what I perceive as breach of contract with the American people. Allow me to state an opinion that was once a fact: police officers exist “to protect and serve” the people of America.

Thus, I find the “us versus them” mentality of police officers to be, putting it mildly, disconcerting. This mentality is detrimental to the citizenry the police force is charged with serving, yet this is not a new phenomenon. Why have we ignored the protests of the affected populations and let this issue go unaddressed for so long?

We see unnecessary police-perpetrated violence on the news with alarming frequency. This violence occurs predominantly against minorities and with horrifying death rates when one considers that not a single person should be killed by police officers, perhaps with the exception of an active shooter.

When reading news coverage of these deaths, unfathomable acts of violence by supposed keepers of peace, I fail to understand how we as a society have become so thoroughly corrupted by fear as to allow this blatant disregard for police officers’ original purpose to go unchallenged.

Fear is leading us down a dark path as a nation, and we are blindly following. This country has an unfortunate habit of ignoring the right course of action in the long run, favoring instead extreme overcompensation that creates the illusion of results and progress.

The mentality of police officers has also been warped by the introduction of military equipment and influence. Many police units are outfitted with surplus military gear, but for what? It is unclear why they need military level weaponry to protect and serve the civilian population on a day-to-day basis.

Has anyone stopped to consider that we are turning our home into a war zone, and that these are not terrorists these weapons are being used on but fellow citizens, many of whom are still innocent when being targeted?

I guess I missed the memo that this country abandoned the concept of “innocent until proven guilty.” It appears that police training has produced officers who consider themselves fit to dish out punishment, even capital punishment, without consulting a judge.

It is unclear whether these officers are trained to consider that the men, women, and children they are shooting would not receive the death penalty even if found guilty of whatever crimes the officer believes they committed.

I suppose one can sympathize with officers for succumbing to their fear in a stressful situation; however, they have an obligation as a human being to consider alternative methods of protecting themselves that is less likely to end in loss of life.

Understandably, it is not practical to contemplate possible sentences for the citizen they are trying to arrest in a high-tension situation.

Nevertheless, according to the United States Bureau of Justice compilation of state capital punishment laws a citizen can only be sentenced to the death penalty for one of the following crimes: murder, rape ending in a death, treason, lying in court that leads to someone else getting the death penalty, kidnapping ending in a death, and airplane hijacking ending in a death.

Now think of the past five cases of an unarmed civilian being shot and killed by the police. This makes the laws seem rather pointless, does it not?

And therein lies the problem with the path this country is currently on: our rights are being stripped away. Some are blatantly violated, as was the case with the NSA programs exposed by Edward Snowden, others are restricted through legislation that prevents access, such as the anti-abortion law currently in the Supreme Court, while still others are subtly dissolved over time through gradual changes and small incidents that are not condemned.

The unsettling use of violence against civilians by police officers is the last-mentioned method of appropriating our freedom, and it needs to be stopped, reversed, and prevented from relapsing. None of the steps necessary to do so will happen, however, so long as people continue to act as if we must choose between our freedom and our protection. We do not! We can be safe without being seen as potential targets by our protectors.

First and foremost, we have to alter whatever training practices contribute to the irrational “us versus them” mentality seen in the unnecessarily harsh treatment of civilians, especially regarding biased targeting and implicit biases towards minorities. De-escalation training programs should be implemented as a replacement or supplement.

Simultaneously, we must remind the police forces of America that their individual judgements are not a substitute for a fair trial in determining guilt and punishment. I understand that police officers selflessly risk their lives everyday, and I know that not all officers have neglected their duties.

However, recent events have revealed a pattern of power abuse and negligence of the laws to which these officers are bound. If we do not start holding the police accountable, and if we fail to demand that our rights remain unviolated, then we shall lose our right to a justice system entirely.