The police are only part of the problem, the criminals still needs to be charged and convicted. There was a reason SF recalled their DA. Also, many of these people are mentally ill, and the arrest can turn physical. In the current environment, police have very little room to make mistakes and even if they do everything according to their training, public opinion can really go against them (see Nicholas Reardon). Nobody wants to be public enemy #1 for doing their job.

Imagine reading an honest job description for being a police officer:

  * Good benefits, poor hours

  * Willing to risk life to save others even if they hate you.

  * Must make split second life and death decisions and if you are wrong, you can go to jail for lifetime.

  * You will be recorded and every important decision will be second guessed by people who have never done the job

  * Even if you follow training perfectly, public opinion might go against you which could lead to criminal charges.

Can you image taking a sys admin job like that? Hackernews would laugh non-stop at that posting. But we expect less educated people to do that job for less money. Good luck with that plan.

Just like we have done to teachers in our schools, I think we have made the job almost impossible. In a more gentle society, I can see the plan working, but in our current cities, I think our expectations are complete fiction.