My only slightly exaggerated take is that police on duty can do whatever they want to whomever they want - up to and including killing someone - and not be held liable.
In the United States, qualified immunity is a legal principle that grants government officials performing discretionary (optional) functions immunity from civil suits unless the plaintiff shows that the official violated "clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known".[1]
I'm sure killing people violates clearly established constitutional rights, so the concept looks puzzling.
