Police still need to arrest crime suspects. This is part of the essential deterrent function of cops, because people need to know that crime will be punished; there is plenty of evidence that the existence of police officers does deter crime.
But there’s probably another way for police to deter crime more peacefully, while also integrating themselves into the communities they serve — police boxes and foot patrols.
In America, the police mostly drive around, looking for people to pull over and waiting to respond to 911 calls. In Japan, however, lots of police walk around on the street, or stay in police boxes known as koban (交番). And this totally changes the dynamic of police-community interaction!! In Japan, you can (and people often do) ask cops for directions! You can stand around and chat with cops if you like! You can even ask cops for recommendations for local shops and restaurants. And the cops themselves have a totally different experience — instead of only interacting with civilians when something bad is going on, they see thousands upon thousands of people peaceably going about their business, and interact with many of these people.
In addition to creating routine, positive police-community interactions, police can deter crime just by walking around. Experiments with police foot patrols have found that they reduce crime substantially. In Camden, New Jersey, famed for firing and restructuring its police department in a way that cut both crime and brutality, a robust and peaceful foot patrol presence was part of the formula that worked.
But if cops become a more regular part of the community, it will hopefully cause them to shed their “warrior mentality”, and bring U.S. policing more in line with the less violent policing done in other countries. That’s in addition to things like civilian oversight boards, strict hiring and punishment procedures, ending qualified immunity, making it much easier to fire bad officers, removal of military equipment, more and better training, and stricter rules around the use of force.