There's too many stories of police brutality for it to all be made up (of course they often don't keep much in the way of actual data), and I don't dismiss them just because they come from or happen to minorities and other disadvantaged people. The point of comparison is rates of death by police in other countries (though the lack of data won't help with that), there are too many here. In any given situation I'd weigh the risk of police causing harm versus the risk of not calling the police causing harm. With assault or something the risk of not calling is likely greater. However many people call police in mere cases of a family member acting funny (drug use/mental illness) and there the balance may tilt the other way (greater risk of harm from getting the police involved).