I hate the protestor discourse. I don't trust them at all. They are religious, just under a different name. That being said, the pushing back of the police in Seattle is so wonderful it gives me goosebumps. I love the idea of more community control over their own safety.
Yeah as I've tweeted about before, policy doesn't exist in a vacuum - different laws would work well for different cultures. I think community policing would end up awesome in some communities and not others.