Recent news reports of police and citizens clashing all over America have been disturbing indeed. What is remarkable that many of the protestors are American youth and even schoolchildren in some instances, painting an even more complicated picture.

In this case, it is an atmosphere of dislike and distrust for one of the finest police forces of the world. What has turned their image from protectors to enemies is to be questioned, as are several government policies that may have created this situation.

People are not just talking about police brutality, but also strongly protesting against issues like invasion of privacy and police militarization. The increasing presence of police in schools shows how opposing forces are splitting the system apart from within — authorities that want more control over the future generation who are unwilling to give it.

Open letters to the editors of leading dailies like The New York Times shows the public sentiment about police in public schools. Most of these are reactions to NY Times’ report earlier in 2013 about how the increasing presence of police on campus may lead to increasing number of children in jail. The debate has seen no signs of abating as authorities have yet to come up with a definitive stance for or against the motion.

The chief role of police officers is to protect us and prevent crime, which has perhaps been the underlying motivation behind the original move. But what has transpired in recent times is criminalization of routine misbehavior that has led to issuance of tickets and even arrests. Many of these actions speak of age-related behavior aberrations rather than "crimes" actions that can often be sorted out by parent-teacher collaborations.

Increased police presence in campuses was perhaps a way to prevent drug-related crimes and gun-related incidents, threats that still continue to lurk in our schools. But the fallout has been the early introduction of children to the criminal justice system, which has done more harm than good.

In metro areas like New York, minor disciplinary infractions in public schools have been handled with unnecessarily violent and frightening police actions. What works for the dark alleys of crime is hardly going to be appropriate for school corridors, a stance that experts and activists across the country clearly agree on. Police presence is supposed to augment the existing school security, not make schools less safe for students.

Many believe the underlying reason for this shift toward unnecessary violence in civil life stems from the present-day administrative stance. Reports of militarization of police departments with aid from the Department of Defense have been surfacing for some time.

A September report in The Wall Street Journal clearly mentioned that a federal program has been supplying surplus military gear to local police, which has further filtered into the public school environments. These include high-powered rifles, armored vehicles and grenade launchers, among other weapons of war.

But all is not lost. We do see efforts to derive the positive aspects of this move by several schools in the country. A key focus is in reviving or strengthening the liaison programs that connect students and parents with law and order, without trouble in sight. The focus is on prevention of crime by discouraging extreme negative behaviors at school with police presence instead of punishing misdemeanors.

The idea is also to provide all-around protection of students from external as well as internal threats and keep the community safe, which is an important task for the law enforcement agencies. Some districts have seen the need for it and have gone ahead to create their police forces, like Orange County public schools in Florida. They are hoping to prevent another Sandy Hook without the nightmare presence of a military force in police gear.