Possibly, yes. I'm not passing any judgement here, just pointing out that police, as agents of the State, are ultimately agents of violence, since the State is ultimately just "that entity which reserves for itself a monopoly on the lawful use of violence".

Personally, I agree with Bastiat that the State should be more more than the collective extension to our own individual, inate right to self-defense, so any violence which goes beyond that, I consider improper.

But I've said too much already, HN really isn't the best place for these discussions...