Answer:
If the reform era never occurred, policing would look drastically different today. Many of the events of history that we have seen in recent years may not have had an opportunity to manifest as they did with the reforms in place.
The civil rights debates and racial tensions could be even worse than what we already see today. Without a push for police accountability, officers may have continued to abuse their power by targeting African Americans without consequence or reprimand from higher-ups. This could lead to more discrimination and violence against black people and other minority groups, furthering the divide between law enforcement and those who are most vulnerable in society. Similarly, bias towards certain communities would likely continue unchecked since there was no pressure on departments to change their policies or practices regarding how they interact with different populations. The lack of oversight also means that any instances of misconduct or corruption committed by officers would remain unpunished; this could worsen criminal activity due to police feeling emboldened by impunity from wrongdoing.
The economic crisis of the 1970s might also be worsened if there were no reforms in place as police budgets may not have been able to adequately keep up with inflation costs resulting from rising crime rates across America at this time period. When resources are limited it can often lead to cuts within departments which can then impact officer morale and training programs, leading them less prepared when dealing with situations out on patrol - potentially increasing the risk for all involved parties including suspects/offenders as well as innocent bystanders caught up in scenarios where force is used unnecessarily or improperly trained personnel act up during a situation due to lack of proper guidance on procedure protocols, etc... As such these issues become compounded over time causing more significant harm rather than solutions being implemented early on before things get too far out of hand (i.e., mass school shootings).
Finally, terrorist acts like 9/11 could still occur. Still, without reforms, they wouldn't necessarily be deterred either since many counterterrorism efforts rely heavily upon intelligence-gathering operations conducted by federal agencies such FBI – which only works best when working collaboratively alongside local law enforcement departments who provide crucial context information about potential threats within their jurisdictions (which again requires trust between both entities). With mistrust existing between citizens & cops stemming back decades prior due to corrupt behavior going unpunished – it's highly unlikely that any real progress will ever be made here unless fundamental changes take place first before attempting anything else related to counter-terrorism prevention measures, etc... In conclusion therefore without reforms taking place throughout modern American history it's clear that many critical situations facing our world today would've been much harder (if not impossible)to resolve effectively thus leading us down a path very different from where we currently stand now.
This is my own take on the question, hopefully, this helps you out!