[vanderZwan]

> Armored vests, plexiglass riot shields, helmets, and less-than-lethal armaments I understand.

I recall reading that there is very little reason to believe that the currently used crowd control methods actually work as intended. After rioting starts you probably want a capable force stopping the rioters. But riot police being present before riots start might as well contribute to triggering riots, especially if tactics like kettling[0] are involved.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettling

[fenomas]

If you've ever seen a police force de-escalating a protest, it's pretty obvious - the cops have their helmets off, they chat with demonstrators, hand out bottles of water if it's hot, etc.

Comparing that to the photos out of Ferguson - which show visors down, assault weapons readied, and a striking absence of visible names or badge numbers - it's hard not to get the impression that the police are trying to escalate the conflict. (That or they're completely incompetent - I'm not sure which is worse.)

[vanderZwan]

> (That or they're completely incompetent - I'm not sure which is worse.)

Given that they changed their police team and tactics to what you suggested should have happened in the first place gives us our answer, I think. Especially if you realise this is apparently so special that it has even reached Dutch news channels:

http://nos.nl/artikel/686596-nieuwe-aanpak-kalmeert-ferguson...