> If people see the police as their partner, they'll be happy to help them do their job (at least in the UK).
Unfortunately, that ship sailed long ago when the police stopped treating the community as their partner and started treating people with suspicion by default.
I don’t think it’s fair to make a blanket statement like that, at least in the US where the local police system is hyper-fragmented. There more police-community relationships than there are police + communities, so there’s a ton of variation.
Annecdote: I’m very happy with the local police in my community.
There are of course correlations and general trends that can be observed. In recent years there’s been a lot of attention on the disproportionate rate of police shootings involving racial minorities. That’s a problem. But it’s not an all police departments by all communities by all times problem.
Unfortunately, that ship sailed long ago when the police stopped treating the community as their partner and started treating people with suspicion by default.