The author had to think a long time how to express that? Most of us would be able to ask that question a lot more simply and directly.
There was a farmer protest where a truckload of cow crap was left outside city hall.
This is a small version of what has happened with the “defund the police” communities. Police wait to respond now an hour or two after a robbery or shooting has taken place. That way they won’t be exposed to criminal liability for doing their jobs. The thugs now run cities like Chicago etc.
The “thin blue line” has been erased in major cities leading to a Hobbesian devolution into chaos.