Safety and politics

Residents in the Athenian district of Nea Smyrni said that after the clashes between police and residents that occurred in the area during the coronavirus lockdown, the police were invisible.

Officers had withdrawn from the neighborhood out of discretion, “so as not to provoke.” Are these the only alternatives citizens have? Either an overreacting force or a nonexistent one? 

What is needed is still an operational plan that will obey only security needs, without being influenced by politics.