If A Society Cannot Protect Its Police, Then It is Worthless

                                  The police are given a job to serve and protect. They are not an occupying army, and they are not at war with communities.  They are there to serve and protect communities, and at times this means having violent confrontations with criminals. The police task of serving and protecting is not the same as being in war. There is no justification ever for anyone to deliberately attack police, just as there is no justification ever for attacking teachers, janitors, dentists, or anyone by virtue of their lawful occupation. The only legitimate target for attack are the soldiers of an army at war by the soldiers of the opposing army.  Civilians are never legitimate targets. Police are never legitimate targets of attack. In all occupations there are good people along with some bad apples. There are channels for dealing with bad cops, and if those channels are not adequate, then there are legal and lawful ways for changing things.
                                    No one has the right to attack police because of the actions of cops that have done wrong things. Two wrongs never make a right. A civilized society cannot function if morons take the law into their own hands. Even bad cops have the right to due process free from vigilante actions. Would anyone advocate harming dentists because of the actions of a few bad dentists?
                                     If the police are under attack and are considered legitimate targets by cowards, then the rules of the game have to change. Police have an obligation to serve and protect, and society has an obligation to make sure police can perform this task without the risk of assassination. If society cannot fulfill this basic obligation, if society is too corrupt or too overcome by weakness to protect its police, then it is no longer functioning. We might as well pull the police off the streets, declare martial law, and have the military patrol the streets with shoot to kill orders. A society too dangerous to protect its police, too dangerous to even have police, is completely dysfunctional and useless, at which time there should be martial law.
                                     People are free to argue and peacefully protest all they want about police conduct or misconduct. Or whether they love, hate, support or do not support the police. But advocating or inciting violence against the police, or actually committing acts of violence against the police, is always wrong, unjustified, and completely unacceptable. Any social media outlet should have the guts and decency to shut down all incitement and calls for violence against the police and others. People are free to love or hate police, teachers, dentists, farm workers, any occupation. But whether they love or hate the people of an occupation is completely different from something they never have the right to do- which is to commit acts of violence against the police or anyone by virtue of their lawful occupation.