Nearly without exception, the protests over the killings of unarmed black men have been examples of police misconduct or mistakes, Pollack said.

All communities need and want good policing, and the focus should be on factors that are known to have lowered crime, he said.

Things like community policing and addressing other social issues in the communities have worked, he said.

“Public safety is a joint product of the police and the community, and each side has to trust each other, and when that trust breaks down, it’s very hard for police to do its job and for the community to do do its part as well,” he said.

But with the current political climate, don’t be surprised if crime statistics become part of the discussion on race and policing.

“The premise of the Black Lives Matter movement, that the police are the biggest threat facing young black males today, is simply false, and the animosity that’s directed to police on the streets today is having an effect,” Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute told CNN’s Chris Cuomo. “I’ve heard from many officers that they are reluctant to engage in actions that could be misinterpreted on cellphone cameras.”