"Why do the police have to explain their actions to the 'Local Community', are they scared it might set off a riot? "
Why shouldn't they? The police, as is often said, have an awful lot of responsibility and an extremely difficult task. It is extremely difficult to guarantee that the force can carry their task out without this power being abused. As it happens, accountability is a pretty good way to work against that. Nobody would say that the police job is easy but (like soldiers) they know that when they take the decision to join up. We entrust the police with a very important and powerful role in our society - it seems perfectly rational to want to check over what they're doing.
I realise this is anathema to those who love authority (including that of other people) more than they love anything else, but personally I think that's a bizarre and unsustainable attitude.