The holodeck is also just a plot device. Instead of the TOS penchant for time travel and "oh no, we ended up on Earth in 18XX/19XX" plots, they could hit the Holodeck as the release valve. Lower stakes, lower contrivance barrier to get the crew into the situation.

You want real life? The safety protocols keep people from breaking the damn thing. It wouldn't render half the dangerous stuff, like bullets flying too fast to bother rendering. The emitters wouldn't be able to render objects inside a body, so bullets would only penetrate a few cm at best if they did render. Knives and sharp objects might not render sharp enough to cause real harm, and might not render into the would, either, so also low penetrative range. Chemical reactions are visual simulations, so acid doesn't really burn. Poison isn't real poison because it's a hologram that feels real, not real chemicals. Blunt force trauma, crushing force, and maybe heat, might be the only guaranteed ways to do violence in the Holodeck with the protocols turned off.