Broken windows, cancelled concerts, police chants and other headline-grabbing developments in protests after a judge’s high-profile verdict have overshadowed attempts to consider the vital issues that the case raises.

When Judge Timothy Wilson exonerated former police Officer Jason Stockley in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, the ruling brought back the raw emotions that gripped the St. Louis area three years earlier, when Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson policeman Darren Wilson. It also reignited demonstrations as well as once more raising questions of inequality and proper exercise of authority that persist nationwide.

In the days leading up to the verdict, officials cautioned against violent protests, perhaps to a point that their warnings actually fed the demonstrations that eventually erupted. Once the marches began, what could have been peaceful declarations against injustice quickly and sadly degenerated into actions that stoked fear on both sides.

We need to be clear about tactics used by the demonstrators and by the police.

Those who marched to make their feelings about the verdict known had every right to do so, even to the point of disrupting traffic and demonstrating in public places so their presence and their strong objections could be felt. Silence would convey the wrong message. But when they smashed windows in the mayor’s house and damaged businesses that had nothing to do with the case, they crossed a line.

Police have the duty to maintain safety and security while respecting constitutional rights of speech and assembly. But when they beat their batons on the pavement in intimidating unison, co-opt the chant of demonstrators to declare “Whose streets? Our streets!” and use tactics to sweep up violators and the innocent alike, they, too, have crossed a line and tossed fuel on a simmering situation.

What good does such excessive behavior accomplish? Instead of helping to ease the divisions and heal the hurts, the violence by demonstrators and undue show of force by police have simply hardened positions on both sides, making more difficult the deliberation and discussion that eventually need to occur.

And good intentions, such as Central Reform Congregation’s offer of sanctuary to protesters seeking safety, can too easily appear to be encouraging violations of the law instead of being efforts to ease tensions.

In the end, each side needs to listen and reflect on society’s role. Rabbi Jim Bennett of Congregation Shaare Emeth put it this way at an interfaith prayer service at Kiener Plaza as Rosh Hashanah approached:

“So many of our friends and neighbors and fellow citizens suffer the pain of injustice and feel unheard and unnoticed and victimized by our society. We know that this is not the fault of any one individual. It is all of our fault. We are all responsible.”

Admitting and accepting that responsibility is not always easy, especially in the heat of the moment that followed the Stockley verdict. Silence is not the answer; neither is violence. Somewhere in between, everyone must work to find a way toward mutual understanding, appreciation, acceptance and respect.

At any time, but particularly now, as the new year begins with prayers for introspection and forgiveness, taking that responsibility seriously is the best way to begin the healing needed to make sure that such situations do not occur again.