Cops are an after the fact force. They mop up the mess after the fact. You and you alone are the front line defense against armed intruders, contrary to what any cop will tell you. You hold your ground, make your stand, and repel all invaders who threaten you and your home. The police have no say in the matter. If the police turn on you, then they are no better than than a criminal invader, and should be dealt with accordingly. Even the police are bound by the rules of law, and they are expected to behave accordingly.
Exactly. Police do not protect any one citizen or family. Let me say that again, because I'm sure it will come as a shock to the lib lurkers here. The police cannot and will not protect you or your family from harm.
The job of the police is to protect society from criminals. They do this through two-fold deterrence. One, criminals know that if they get caught, they are going to have to answer for their crimes. Unfortunately, courts and sentencing is often a joke, so the value of this as a deterrent is slowing eroding away. Two, after the fact they may catch a criminal and remove him/her from society.
So in the long run, the police address crime after the fact and hopefully prevent future crimes. However, that does absolutely nothing, NOTHING, to protect you or your family, friends, and neighbors if they are becoming the victims of a crime RIGHT NOW.
'round these parts the average code-3 response (lights and sirens) is on the order of 10 minutes. I don't know about you, but I can raise a lot of h*ll in 5 min and be long gone. So could your average criminal. I will not risk some {expletive} putting my family through 5 minutes of {diety} knows what. I will end his/her life in seconds and be done with it.