Cordoned off Main Street in Dallas following the shooting of police officers during a rally on July 7, 2016. Photo: Yahoo.com

(Before anything else, to some of our readers who might question why we are commenting on this "American" issue, the reason is because we are Filipino-Americans and feel the need to express our opinion about it.)

he seemingly unjustified killings by American police officers of minority males—one in Minnesota and another in Louisiana, this past week—was the main reason a gunman shot and killed five police officers and wounded six others yesterday in downtown Dallas.

Unfortunately, U.S. law enforcement in general, in our opinion, shoulders most of the blame for the Dallas incident. And if these kind of incidents are to never be repeated, police departments across the United States need to be completely revamped.

For starters, American policemen are more often than not, an arrogant bunch. Many of them tend to look down on ordinary citizens. And with Television, Hollywood, and the press continually idolizing their exploits and turning them into larger-than-life heroes, many police officers develop a gigantic chip on their shoulders that is readily evident when they interact with ordinary people.

That arrogant behavior of cops has largely been tolerated by the communities they serve because, admittedly, policing is a difficult and oftentimes dangerous job. The problem is that things have gotten way too extreme and many citizens now feel that some policemen are killing people in cold blood.

American cops conveniently justify their use of deadly force even in situations where it is clearly uncalled for by claiming that they feared for their lives. After such incidents an impenetrable blue wall of silence surrounds and protects even guilty officers.

Here's what must happen

American law enforcement must be revamped ... completely. As a CNN commentator recently stated, psychological testing for all police recruits must be implemented nationwide. Those who show a tendency towards violence, abuse of power, racism, corruption, etc., should not be allowed to enter the force.

Secondly, cops should also begin policing themselves. If they see one of their own who behaves in an abusive, condescending manner towards the public, or displays tendencies that run contrary to proper policing, they should report those individuals to the appropriate authorities up the chain of command. Each and every policeman must realize that if they tolerate rough cops within their ranks, they lose the support of the community and end up making their jobs much more difficult and dangerous.