Sounds nice. I've personally spoken on the phone with a police officer who told me he'd involve CPS if he saw my daughter walking (two blocks!) to school again.
Yeah, in CA you aren't allowed to leave a kid under 6 in a car if "there are conditions that can pose a risk to the child’s health and safety, even if accompanied by another child who is not yet 13. What does it mean for conditions to "pose a risk"? Obviously high heat, but it's not clear what else could qualify.
I don't ever leave my kids (one that is under 6 and one that is well over 6, but not yet 13) alone in a car, since I don't want police or nosy passersby injecting themselves in a perfectly benign situation.
I agree that we need to push back, but that can also be done politically.
Antagonizing a local police officer is a terrible idea unless you are wealthy and/or well-connected. Most are kind, but not all are, and antagonizing the wrong one can make your life hell.
(I also agree that the vast majority of police are not "murder junkies". But it's also not surprising that a handful of folks like that do join an organization that nearly always manages to protect their members from repercussions when they use lethal force.)
I'm reminded of how Georgia will pay foster parents of homeless kids more than it'd cost to simply put a roof over those kids' families heads. https://www.propublica.org/article/georgia-housing-assistanc...