Police are afraid if they arrest someone or confront a criminal something will go wrong — that the criminal will die or get hurt and the police officer will become the official criminal. From the Wall Street Journal:
“It’s a time of uncertainty for us as a police organization, as police officers as a whole,” said Police Commissioner Anthony Batts.
Mr. Batts praised officers for getting guns off the street and making what he called good arrests, but he said recent events have taken a toll on officers. “Some are frustrated, some are probably trying to figure out what they want to do,” he said.Gene Ryan, president of the Baltimore police union, said a jump in violent crime in West Baltimore, where Mr. Gray was arrested April 12 and where rioting broke out after his April 27 funeral, was the fault of “a criminal element” taking advantage of heightened tensions. . . .
The police have to be cautious when the city wants to make points with special interest groups by jailing a police officer.