>I'd say the solution to this problem is to have the public democratically elect police just like politicians, and to also have them be subjected to term limits just like politicians.
The US has in interesting system where new ideas are first tried on local levels like individual towns / counties / states, which all compete with each other. It would be interesting to see such a reform tried out somewhere small and if it works better than the current status quo.
And since the current status quo involves rape and murder, I argue that even if it sucks it would still be a huge improvement.
There are, but there are a lot less of them in countries with fair democratic elections, and those who are corrupt are on average a lot milder than in countries without fair democratic elections. On average we're talking theft vs murder / genocide.
There are. And democracy makes politicians seem more legitimate. Democracy in the wrong place can make corruption worse.
Hiring cops should not be a popularity contest (i.e. democratic) in my opinion.