I think you are misinterpreting policing by consent, which is an outcome of the Peelian principles of policing. It does not mean that we get to chose to follow the laws that we want to, it means that we and the police support each other in the community as a whole and accept the authority of the police rather than a more strict control force such as a militia or army.
The police are of the people not above the people and if anything has gone to far it is the raising of the police to a special status with regards internal review of complaints and alleged crimes committed by police with the latest being the wish to withhold BWVC footage and anonymity for officers involved in deaths in custody.
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