I found a short article earlier today written by an "anarchist/feminist" student of MIT, (most likely left-anarchist), and I thought she made some very good points:

I suppose I'm just supposed to smile pretty and accept gratefully whatever petty handouts from the patriarchy I can get, whatever piddling of civil liberties I can demand without offending anyone. And I suppose we anarchists could just smile pretty at the riot cops and feign a submissive demeanor. If we treat them like friends, it'll take our cause a whole lot further, we're apparently meant to believe.

Folks, don't fool yourselves, and don't participate in your own victimization. Cops serve the state. They are willing to inflict severe harm on your person if you do not obey whims of power emanating from the state or from their own egos. Cops may be fellow humans temporarily misguided by short-term prospects for power, but they are most certainly not our friends.

Not everything is as black and white as people may wish. Not all anarchists "hate police" or think they are subhuman. Nor should people who value their liberty bow down before the illegitimate domination of the state. Police are not absolutely evil, but they are without a doubt willing to inflict great harm on anyone who gets in their way, or who disobeys any dictate of the state. They will often bend or break the rules in order to assert their "authority." If anyone other than a police officer acted as they do, they would be considered psychopathically aggressive.

Having become used to the violent presence of police, most look the other way. People then whine and complain and become angry at "violence" at protests when anarchists break through police lines or don't follow exactly where they are herded by the authorities. At the same time, these people ignore the militarized police, decked out in armor and toting automatic weapons, who beat and oppress, and sometimes shoot unarmed people. The anarchists are not beating anyone. They are not depriving others of liberty. And with the exception of the few cases when they destroy private property, which I do not approve of, they are doing no wrong at all by not letting themselves be controlled and herded like animals. The violence of the police far surpasses individuals exercising autonomy and opposing the orders of police.

If America cared anything about freedom, if a police officer attempted to arbitrarily control any individual's movement when that person has broken no laws at all, that person should tell the cop to shove it. And the cop should do as told. They are supposed to serve and protect not control and oppress.