Not as sad as you think. Americans, for all their bleating about liberty and personal freedom, absolutely adore power. They are infatuated with it. And they infer heroic qualities in people who wield it, regardless of merit. If you only pay attention to the right media, you might get the impression that police are suffering some popularity problem in the US. Even after Ferguson, I assure you this is not the case. Darren Wilson has a great many supporters, not just people who think the shooting was tragic but the officer is not at fault, but believe he was right to shoot the guy. They had a fucking rally, even, in St. Louis! Naturally, the crowd was lily-white.

On a personal level, and especially for people who aren't closet statists, sure it's tragic. But, on a national level, there are few places on Earth that deserve it more.