The past week has been both eventful and interesting. Not in good ways, but it could have been worse.
One of those various interesting events, which I was on the periphery of, involved EMTs, firefighters, and cops. Through direct observation, it highlighted the differences between those careers in a way no mere speculation can.
The EMTs checked for potential injuries and were prepared to do more if necessary. Fortunately, everyone was OK. The EMTs seemed competent and useful.
The firefighters did what it took to make the scene safe and stable to prevent people from being injured by further consequences of the event. They worked hard and fast, and did a good job of helping.
The cops, on the other hand, were very condescending and unhelpful to the injured parties; they treated the victims like they were somehow guilty of causing the problem. One obviously had some sort of friendly relationship with the mother of the person who caused the incident, which colored the way he treated the injured parties. The other cop was more neutral, but still did nothing but prepare to make a report, and then told the damaged party that the incident report would be available when it's available, probably in 5 days. Both stood around while more useful people actually did things to help, and got in the way more than most of the gawkers did. A crackhead could have done better.
When I've said how awful police are, I don't think you quite understand how utterly useless they really are. If they do anything, they are more likely to make matters worse. The best you can hope for is that they don't.
Yes, insurance companies foolishly require you to deal with these badged parasites, but that just means insurance companies aren't as useful as they could be. An on-scene insurance investigator would do better-- one from each of the involved parties' insurance companies would probably be ideal. Unless there were freelance investigators who were unbiased and could contract with competing insurance companies to write an objective report, which would probably be better. Almost anything would be better than allowing police to be involved and "in charge" when problems occur.
Depending on police to do a necessary job is a failure to do things right.
Pretending that police are essential is a denial of reality, and it cripples society in multiple ways. Defund the police? Not just that. Abolish and denounce that criminal gang!
