A firework explodes behind a line of police officers next to the Colorado State Capitol as protests against the death of George Floyd continue for a third night on May 30, 2020 in Denver, Colo.

Floyd’s death, but to the pockets of destruction – police cruisers set ablaze, rocks and bricks sailing into police lines – that some activists say risk marring the underlying call for just and equal treatment for the country’s black community.

The “militarization” of urban police forces across the U.S., as well as in major Canadian cities, is a symptom of a decades-long arms race between criminals and the cops that’s been going on since the days of gangsters and Tommy guns, said Arthur Rizer, a former police officer and military lieutenant-colonel who now works at R Street Institute, a Washington think tank.

Modern police officers are well aware of the effect their methods, appearance and equipment have on public attitudes, says Col.

“We have police forces around this country that are feeling like they’re at war, and when you feel like you’re at war, you want all the tools necessary to win that war.

“If I’m not over here wilding out, if I’m not over here blowing stuff up, if I’m not over here messing up my community, then what are you all doing?” Floyd’s brother Terrence said during an emotional visit to the memorial in Minneapolis at the scene of his brother’s killing.

To move forward, municipalities must embrace the need for extensive training on race relations, including “implicit bias” training for police officers to help them better understand the inherent risk of applying different standards to different people, a group of big-city mayors told presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden in a virtual round table discussion Monday.

But she pointed to the almost unanimous condemnation of the actions of the police in Minneapolis, including from the law enforcement community, as a clear sign of progress that wasn’t there in America 20 years ago.

“The fact that we were uniform, police and community alike, in denouncing this officer, who dishonoured and besmirched his badge – it may not feel like it, but that was a big moment that we can’t forget,” Ms.

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This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff