> It's more disheartening that this is what the police are spending their time doing. There seriously isn't anything more important they could be working on?
You can use the same argument when you see a police officer working burglary instead of homicide, or homicide instead of rape, or vice-versa.
The police, like the military, is a tool used to implement the policy of others; in this case, the policy is chosen by the jurisdiction's legislature, which is composed of people chosen by that jurisdiction's population. The police can (and should) prioritize which policy they implement most avidly, but if some things are going entirely undone that's something that needs to be handled at the legislative level, possibly by repealing or modifying the laws the police are charged with implementing.
You can use the same argument when you see a police officer working burglary instead of homicide, or homicide instead of rape, or vice-versa.
The police, like the military, is a tool used to implement the policy of others; in this case, the policy is chosen by the jurisdiction's legislature, which is composed of people chosen by that jurisdiction's population. The police can (and should) prioritize which policy they implement most avidly, but if some things are going entirely undone that's something that needs to be handled at the legislative level, possibly by repealing or modifying the laws the police are charged with implementing.