Unless one lives in Mexico, where the police assassinate people regularly, being terrified of the police - especially in Europe - doesn't fly as an excuse.
This is the fault of the media which is fishing for clicks and demonizing the police to the point that people are becoming paranoid.
Being afraid of being killed, sure. Being afraid of having your life messed with, on the other hand is very reasonable in a lot of European countries too.
Even Theresa May acknowledged in her very first speech as PM that there were problems with institutional racism in the Metropolitan Police for example.
And top Met officers have also talked about problems with racism [1] and warned about misuse of stop and search. Each little abuse of power adds to an environment of fear.
This is the fault of the media which is fishing for clicks and demonizing the police to the point that people are becoming paranoid.