I think that you have asked a very good question.

Individuals are the police, so the question asked in that way can be difficult to answer.

How about another way of asking this type of question?

Example:

Can we, as individuals, rely on other individuals to protect us?

or another Example:

Can we, as individuals, rely on people hired to protect us?

I think that the answer to the last question leads to another very serious question: Are the police actually hired to protect the public at large?

The answer I found is clearly no, and that is an uncontroversial no.

I suggest reading a book titled The Conviction Factory by Roger Roots.

Example:

"The chief selling point for professional policing seems to be the idea that sworn government agents are more competent crime solvers than grand juries, private prosecutors, and unpaid volunteers. But this claim disintegrates when the realities of police personnel are considered. In 1998, for example, forty percent of the graduating recruits of the Washington, D.C. police academy failed the comprehensive exam required for employment on the force and were described as "practically illiterate" and "borderline-retarded." As a practical matter, police are more dependent upon the public than the public is dependent upon police."

Call the police, and perhaps call your neighbor too in a dire emergency involving a aggressive criminal attacker. The Golden Rule applies, it is the basis of the real law power. If you are good to people, they may return the favor.

My wife was fortunate to call a good officer once while I was at work, and she was home with the kids, and the officer met my wife at the door while my wife held a . 22 Ruger in her hand. The officer talked to the one who was in the front yard, but not past the fence, lurking around the front window. Then the officer talked to my wife, reminded her to check the weapon, and helped her unload it. The officer gave back the weapon and informed my wife that he was unwilling to arrest the intruder, trespasser, lurker, potential criminal. The officer was an individual, and clearly not borderline-retarded. If my neighbor was home at the time my wife could have called him, he is a very good shot with his 7.62 (.308?) M14.