Sure they would, could you imagine if you were told the truth by people who get paid to do a think you may not agree with?
The state does not always act in the best interests of making it's citizens safe. As an example, why are not all police cars brightly colored and easy to see? If you want to reduce crime the visiblity of a enforcer will prevent crime. But putting nearly unmarked cars on a highway doesn't reduce crime, it increases the chance of making money on someone committing a unsafe act (speeding).
For a real example: In Ferguson, DOJ found that municipal revenue goals drove police practices, with pressure to issue citations independent of public-safety needs. It also concluded that those practices damaged trust and made policing less effective at promoting safety.
DOJ’s 2023 Minneapolis investigation found police threatened unjustified force against peaceful protesters because of their protected speech. It also documented officers beating, kicking, and shoving protesters after they were restrained. Why? Because ending the protests was in the interest of the state.
Asset forfeiture is another example. The state gives a force the ability to take and only those who can afford to fight can get their assests returned.
Outside of policing there are lots of examples of the states position being advasaral to public safety.
In Flint, MI under state-appointed emergency management, decisions about Flint’s water supply occurred within a framework focused on financial recovery. Residents were exposed to lead, and officials failed to respond adequately to warnings. Michigan’s own task force identified failures across government and problems with the emergency-management framework. The conflict was balancing government finances while failing to protect the people affected.
From 1932 to 1972, the Public Health Service studied Black men with syphilis without informed consent. Participants were not offered effective treatment even after penicillin became widely available. Continuing the research took precedence over the participants’ health.
In the 70s, FBI conducted covert operations to disrupt and discredit groups and individuals it considered threats to the social order. The Senate’s Church Committee investigated these abuses. This is a particularly direct example of government treating political opposition as something to neutralize rather than citizens exercising rights.
During World War II, the government forcibly removed and incarcerated people of Japanese ancestry. A subsequent federal commission concluded that the policy was not justified by military necessity and instead reflected racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and failed political leadership.
U.S. weapons development and testing exposed people to radiation, including residents downwind of test sites. Federal compensation programs later recognized associated serious diseases, including cancers. This illustrates how a government can pursue what it calls collective security while imposing severe health risks on particular communities.
What is in the interest of the state and what is in the best interest of the person feel like they should be aligned, but often are not.