Is the expectation that curfew is an order that should not be enforced in the strictest sense?
From what I could see on the news, parts of your country were being burned down and looted by some rogue elements who used the cover of peaceful protests to spring into action. To protect the lives and livelihoods of those affected, a curfew was imposed, which was then violated. If I lived in those areas I would have liked to see the curfew enforced as harshly as possible because if it is not enforced then I will lose the local businesses who I depend on to live in that area.
What is the expected approach to law enforcement when extreme measures like curfew orders are not obeyed, particularly during a pandemic?
A lot of these videos seem to be omitting the all-important context. In my country I would want the police to beat the ever loving expletive out of people who do go out in large crowds during a pandemic. I would want the police to use all measures available at their disposal to injure and dissuade people from breaking a curfew and unwittingly providing cover for criminals.
Perhaps in first world countries life has become soft and comfortable so there is some expectation of civil behavior from everyone in society, but clearly that has not happened in the USA and many other countries.
Many of the protests are peaceful, and a lot of anger can be easily empathized with, I can't imagine anyone who was not furious after seeing these horrible videos of police inflicted killings. Under no circumstances can I be convinced that looting and rioting is an acceptable outcome. If protesters know that their peaceful assembly is being hijacked by criminals who go out and loot and riot under the cover they provide, and they go out and protest more, then they are complicit in the rioting.
Perhaps these are cultural differences, but coming from a police where the police are infinitely more barbaric, corrupt, rude and ruthless than the USA, I find the police doing the best they can to manage the absolute mess that the citizens are creating.
You all live in a country where many police wear body cameras. That is privileged beyond anything I can hope to imagine for my country. It's weird to empathize with you when you have it so good.
That being said, I am 100% sure that what you are describing also happens, but I'm not so easily convinced that this is the vast majority of the cases captured on video.
For every murder, robbery, rape, etc. that has resulted in a conviction in the USA, there have been policemen involved to arrest and apprehend the criminals. In all of these instances the police have done their jobs and protected innocent civilians from dangerous criminals.
In many other cases, police officers have apparently abused their power and used excessive force on civilians, resulting in all kinds of trauma and often death.
This latter group is either unfit to do the job properly, or has made serious mistakes, or has intentionally inflicted harm on the public.
It feels like the conversation in the USA is being exaggerated to depict all police as brutish thugs with no regard for the welfare of the communities they are sworn to protect. That ironically is the same type of bigotry that many accuse the police of displaying towards some groups.