Most of the police officers I know are keenly aware that violence and incarceration is their main job description. The only thing they like more than their core duties is committing overtime fraud. I do agree that crime can be lessened by making people’s lives objectively less shitty. As for the enforcement arm, do we really trust existing police forces to accept meaningful reforms and and incorporate deescalation as part of their duties? I think it’s far more likely they quiet quit faced with those demands. We have a history of seeing just that in Los Angeles, my hometown, which, to be fair, colors my perception on the role of police in society.

As to the founders problems: Yes, I’m aware of them. They also regularly took pot shots at the uniformed personnel sent to enforce the law, so they’ve at least got that going for them in my book. The founding of the NYPD, the first police force in the USA was very controversial in the 19th century because many elders, who had lived through the revolution, thought it was a tyrranical idea.