Full disclosure that I am asking this for the purpose of making a point, and also that I am in support of defunding police in favor of gradually transitioning our punitive, reactive, and heavily inconsistent criminal justice system with preventative action, reduced harm, and restorative justice aimed at rehabilitation:
In a world where this reality is obtained, where nonviolent AND violent crime are successfully and radically reduced but still extant, how do we intend to address it?
You see someone doing something that frightens you, that you do not know how to handle, which may be dangerous but also might not be.
How would you describe the job of the person in this world who you would want to call?
This is not a "gotcha". This is a goal we need to have in mind because it is a position we need to create.
It is an attainable reality, but to play along with me here, what does that profession look like?
In cases like this, giving this particular person a set of armor designed to protect themselves AND allow for more effective meat shielding towards potentially dangerous situations with people in the crossfire, and having the armor be reminiscent of an era of chivalry and whimsy; would possibly deescalate any dangerous behaviors while also being associated with help. In other words, fund a group of knights trained in deescalation, basic hand to hand combat, and the ability to assess what a situation calls for (could be a drug user high as a kite and trying to get home, so escort home vs stalker situation which results in the knight distracting the stalker so person can make it home safely vs mentally handicapped person genuinely not realizing that they're creeping the caller out so the knight hangs back and walks with said person to determine if they're lost/wandering/understanding what's going on/wanted to ask the caller to walk with them because they're going the same direction anyways due to sheer dumb luck), and armor to protect themselves. Give them a blunt sword to use only if all else fails, and it being blunt means that it'll result in broken bones vs being shot to death for having a toy on you. At least, that's how I'd go for it, and I'd at least try to convince the Americans to swap to swords as the staple "home defense" tool. Heck, maybe even push for a cultural shift to blunted swords being allowed for open carry/carry in scabbards.
Of course, that's my take. Replace cops with knights and update the gear.
