Officer 401 is a great channel with good info and made police work seem more accessible to me. I'd also recommend attending a community event run by your department, or research your department's policies and procedures.
Three big ones for me:
1.) Consider your sources. A lot of my shitty reservations about police came from biased media, misinformation on social media, and plain old bad journalism. Consider what your sources have to gain by posting super-edited clips of police interactions, using the headlines they do, etc. Is the person posting this relying on this to go viral? Is there incentive for them to spread it, and does that mean polluting social media with misinformation? Friends of mine would circulate viral tweets, which, after research,, were comprised of tons of mistruths or were completely made up. Don't jump the gun. Wait for information. Donut Operator does a good job breaking down viral tweets and more.
2.) This is something people everywhere, even within my own social circle, refuse to do:
If there's a story about police brutality, a shooting, etc and you wish to form a serious opinion: research police policies, procedures, research the law, and watch the full, unedited body cam / dash cam footage.
Let me put it this way: If you flipped on the news and nearly every day a story ran about how a local politician or a postal worker was beating the shit out of someone, you'd be compelled to see the full footage of at least one of those incidents and do your research so you can form a serious, educated opinion about local politicians. Or postal workers. People do this all the time in tons of other situations, but they don't do it when it comes to a lot of these police interactions. No one's watching a 20-30 minute video of the events leading up to a pivotal moment, or researching police policy. Maybe it's because this level of research is not the bite-sized, chewable tablet we want, it's a narrative-ruining mouthful of Robitussin. It's infinitely better for you, but a lot harder to swallow.
3.) This has been a big one for me, personally:
It's okay to disagree with your friends and family. In fact, it's probably might gonna usually happen. I'm a liberal (or whatever you wanna call it, I don't really care anymore) in a very liberal city, and I went to a private school to study art. To paint a picture for you: Everyone in my classes had red highlights, rode fixies, and ate chard. I'm the only person in my friend group that doesn't passionately hate police. Half my friends are borderline ACAB, and the others have barely lukewarm understanding LEOs, our criminal justice system, our laws, and basically everything that dictates how police work. Needless to say, we disagree about these matters often. Conversations turn into a standoff before any information can be presented, because you're "either pro-police, or anti-police," and everyone's too busy trying to figure out who is who. I plan on taking a citizen's law enforcement academy in the fall, an announcement which was met by the response: "They're a bunch of racist white dudes who are going to teach you a bunch of fascist bullshit." That's a highly aggressive remark in response to something I see as pretty fucking harmless. For whatever reason, when it comes to law enforcement, there is no subject more polarizing even in 'progressive' groups such as my own, and it can be hard not to feel bullied, or have your opinions colored.
Now than ever, people are going to disagree with you on this matter, strongly. If you're frustrated trying to disentangle this shit, there's a great go-to: Wait for facts to come out, do your research, and use critical thinking.
TL;DR Use your noodle