There is an argument to be made that longer sentences aren't a deterrent, but surely some sentence is a deterrent. Furthermore there is an argument to be made that punishment is not the end all to reducing crime (for example improving people's condition will make them less likely to commit crime), but surely some combination of both is necessary. Either way, it's wholly hypocritical for criminal police officers to get the kind-understanding approach while non-police criminals get the hardline cruel approach. Treat both the same, and then we can talk about where the proper balance lies.

>> you can't rely on just training cops to be "less bad"

> Neither can punishment.

I wasn't advocating for only punishment, rather adding punishment. Without repercussions, you're relying on police officers voluntarily accepting the training. Especially with regards to racism, this seems quite naive.

> My point is the individuals cognitive flaws that cause mistakes are a weak point of libertarian thinking

At this point we're not even talking about mistakes, but willful malice. When police march down a street slashing the tires of every parked car, that's deliberate criminal malice no matter how they try to spin it after the fact.

> barely anyone see themself as the bad guys and only education for other perspectives can change that.

Yes, one strong way of changing someone's perspective is to jail them. If there's no stick, then there's no need to follow the carrot.