Problem with that is the police weren't doing their job, the place was being burned down around them.

Hell there were more national Guard mobilised for the verdict in the Rittenhouse trial than the riots that caused the trial.

If people feel there is a lack of law/rules/power they will, at a certain point, step into fill that gap.

You saw it in the UK during the retail riots with normal people arming themselves with whatever they could because they couldn't rely on the police to assist them.

If the police/enforcement class don't do their job then someone else will, because it still needs to be done.

Thus while thing is a massive symptom of a failure in political leadership which allows these riots to happen on what has become an exceedingly regular occurance, the media supporting such riots & rioters even when they are provably misleading people regarding the event that caused the unrest & rioting based on that incorrect premise.

And finally it also falls on the cops, both for some very questionable shootings, tactics, etc which have essentially resulted in little more than a slap on the wrist for the police involved even though they were in the wrong.

Cops are largely being used to enforce laws relating to victimless & nonviolent crimes, both in the US and elsewhere(definitely including Ireland). If there was a significant shift away from this politically motivated form of enforcement/policing/repression I think there would be a lot less of these incidents that lead to riots in the first place.

But that'll never happen since it makes political hay to justify agendas and policies.

Philando Castile - Yanez was let go by the city police dept.

Daniel Shaver - Brailsford was terminated by the police dept, only to be reinstated(which was only disclosed later) so he could get medical expenses and retire on medical grounds, with a pension.

Breonna Taylor - Jury not presented with homicide charges against the officers involved. Officer who fired the killing shot was fired.

Duncan Lemp - No charged for any of the officers involved.

Johnny Hurley - Good samaritan who shot & killed a gunman, no charges filed against the cop who killed him.

Herkimer - dog shot out of hand by police officer. No criminal charges filed, not even for reckless discharge.

Numerous - look up "dog shot by police" and there are numerous instances of cops shooting dogs, even after entering the wrong house, houses without a warrant or any exigent circumstances, etc and never getting disciplined let alone charges filed.

Marvin Booker - killed after being hit with a taser, put in a sleeper hold and hit with nunchuks while being pinned to the floor. Cops not disciplined and never had charges filed. City subsequently paid 6 million in an excessive force suit.

Parkland - Scot Peterson was the school resource officer who cowardly stayed outside while the shooter was killing those inside. Considering parkland happened back in 2018 and the trial of Peterson is still ongoing(December 9th is the next court date) that is pretty dire in terms of time passed already, but obviously no conviction yet.

Then there is the travesty of Dylan Wall, UPS driver shot and killed while 20 cops shoot at his van with 2 gunmen inside. Charges still not been filed against those involved. Officers also taking cover behind occupied vehicles.

At least with the George Floyd trial Derek Chauvin was held accountable for his actions, but increasingly a lot of cops, even where they obviously did wrong but not enough to satisfy the high burden of proof in a criminal trial, are just let go by their police departments.

Just a few recent examples, but a quick google will find a ton of similarly questionable shootings, tactics, inaction, decisions, etc by police who are, apparently, supposed to protect the public.

Hell, there have been a few stories about NY cops hitting numerous bystanders while attempting to shoot a bad guy.

Our lot are not immune to this either, guards injuring themselves by negligent discharges(feet, legs, etc), firearms & ammunition left unattended, similarly questionable things that at most seem to result in some retraining whereas for any member of the public who did similar would have the book thrown at them.

Patrick McDonnell, the garda who killed a mother through his own reckless driving, fled the scene, 6 hours later contacted the NRA and admitted his involvement. EDIT - still a serving garda from all reports!

Expand it to not just covering loss of life or firearms related:

Recent - https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/garda-suspended-after-crashing-official-car-and-failing-breath-test-1.4730217

Also I cannot find the details but I remember a few years ago a guard had been drinking while watching some match or other, left, drove home and on the way crashed into someone else on the motorway. Garda fled the scene, wouldn't answer the door and after several hours turned himself in. Never heard any more about that one, nor can I even find it now. All searches for "garda crash fled scene" or similar point to the previous 2 incidents above.

There is a disturbing trend that, bar extreme negligence or obvious intent, the worst a cop can suffer is firing from their job, and here it seems to be even lesser punishments than that.