We are a society that only seems to know one way to deal with any problems: escalate

Your neighbor's stereo drowning out your music. Turn it up.

Someone yells at you, you yell back louder.

Gun violence making you afraid? Buy more guns.

Police afraid for their lives while doing a frankly impossible job? More police.

Escalation is/was politically safe. It's also unimaginative and lazy.

We have created a situation where police are afraid for their lives, and also one that attracts/rewards certain personalities. The system is one that (predominantly) only knows to deal with situations by utilizing overwhelming and disproportionate use of force to subjugate our citizens.

It's long past time we moved past making this a political issue and start solving the problems that are creating the conflicts.

Johnny - I agree with everything you've said here and would argue that "defund" the police is a poor choice of words. "Demilitarize" would be more descriptive of what's needed to help turn the tide.

Want to be a solider? Enlist in the military.

Want to be a cop? Be a cop.

There can be honor in both professions as long as the job descriptions are different.