As society becomes more chaotic, the cops are going to get more violent and pro-active. Look at police in Brazil and other war zones. They have to be this way, and they're not universally competent, so you get the dog-shooters and zombies volunteering for these missions as well as the regular cops.
Maybe instead of blaming the tool -- the cops -- we should fix our fractured and dysfunctional society.
I don't think this is America against democracy. Democracy is mob rule.
I think this surveillance was originally a good idea, since all the data's out there and the bad guys are using it. It was abused when it was turned from "listen to all traffic and see if you can find terrorists" to "use this whenever we suspect someone of anything."