You just described how the police were assembled in the first place.
You would intuitively think (or hope) so, right? That’s certainly how we would do it today, if we were starting from scratch.
But historically? No.
Police started as private security for shops, then got subsidized by public money (capitalists do hate paying for things), then when people were like “Why do we pay your salary when all you do is protect rich people’s property?”, they were like “That’s not true. We also, uhhh… Hmm. Oh! We catch escaped slaves. And that keeps you safe. (Also the slaves are rich people’s property, so it’s a win-win-win!)”
You would intuitively think (or hope) so, right? That’s certainly how we would do it today, if we were starting from scratch.
But historically? No.
Police started as private security for shops, then got subsidized by public money (capitalists do hate paying for things), then when people were like “Why do we pay your salary when all you do is protect rich people’s property?”, they were like “That’s not true. We also, uhhh… Hmm. Oh! We catch escaped slaves. And that keeps you safe. (Also the slaves are rich people’s property, so it’s a win-win-win!)”
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-behind-the-police-63877803/episode/slavery-mass-murder-and-the-birth-of-american-policing-63913352
Good to mention also there the same as those who burn crosses. First example off the top…