zlacker

I think that you've noticed a very important piece of the puzzle. I spent a decade as a Marine, received quite a bit of training alongside police and other law enforcement. The mandate to "acquire situational control" is inherent throughout that training. A few points that have stuck with me:

Police are expected to acquire control of any situation they are called to through seizing initiative. This means that they don't wait for anyone to take any action, but immediately take verbally or physically dominating actions.

It is nearly impossible to acquire control of US civilians without violating the Constitution or Bill of Rights. Once someone has violated the law, the police are protected in terms of this violation, but because they are trained to acquire immediate control, they most often are violating the rights of people who've broken no laws.