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On one hand, the authorities are mocked for incompetency (see recently: surveillance cameras on the open internet, 26-year-old EMT shot by police raiding the wrong home) and yet we expect them to handle cases like this? This seems like a double standard. Is there a solution?

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There are going to be both competent and incompetent people in any sizable organization.

I don't think it's fair to use extreme examples like that EMT getting killed as a generalization of the incompetence of "authority". In that case, it's more like a couple of trigger-happy police officers severely abused their rights.

Yes.

You should assume the government will always have a lot of incompetence and abuse in the application of its power.

So give government as little power as possible.

I would rephrase that to "give government as little power as necessary."

If you give government as little power as possible, because you believe all government is maximally incompetent and abusive, you might as well just do away with it altogether and have anarchy.

Allowing a government at all implies at least some trust that government can have some positive societal effect.

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