Is cops being evil/lazy/incompetent a USA specific thing, or is it the same everywhere in the world?
Is cops being evil/lazy/incompetent a USA specific thing, or is it the same everywhere in the world?
That's quite a broad generalization even if just talking about US cops.
the big thing that's different about american cops is the amount of education they get. here, even patrolling police have a university level education in social sciences, ethics, law, medicine etc. it's a three year degree of which six months are spent as a trainee. AFAIK, some states in the us have like half a year of training total.
also, due to an event in the 30s, the use of police on worker suppression is deeply ingrained.
there is no doubt that they protect the interest of capital, but they are tightly regulated. also i'm not saying the regulations automatically make them competent.
American cops are kinda average compared to the global stage. Most of Europe, for example, has much more restrained, much less incompetent cops. On the other hand, much of the world has cops much worse than the US. I have a family member who lived in one of the less stable African countries, who recounted seeing a bunch of cops beat a child for "daring" to wear camo pants, and that wasn't considered particularly shocking.
I mean, it's universal because not of those traits are unique to any country, they're human traits.
Even if you subscribe to ACAB as a political stance, there are still competent people doing the job to the best of their ability. Being a tool of oppression isn't an inherently disabling factor. Plenty of serious pieces of shit have been good at their jobs, even when that job literally genocide.
Now, US police have disadvantages because of hiring, training and operational guidelines that favor order takers with low initiative and a willingness to adhere to authority. But it isn't the only country like that, nor is it the only country with a police force infiltrated by extremists waiting for a chance to take greater power, we're just a really big country, so it's easier to hide.
Couple that with a strong and effective police union that's also infiltrated, and is formed of the same people hired, and trained to basically be thugs, and the worst ones are harder to get rid of, even when higher ups want to.
But, again, don't think that the U.S. is the only place that has this trouble. Power corrupts, and the greater the power, the greater the corruption. Without vigilance and oversight, shit will creep in
I mean, it's universal
Tell me you never been to Europe (or probably anywhere outside of the US) without telling me.
I'm defintely not a fan of cops, but in Scotland I never thought of them as evil/lazy/incompetent. They're still the arm of state control, and have been used to break strikes and stuff, but there is at least a vibe of policing by consent. There are plenty of cases of individual cops who were psychos, and the institution defintely defaults to 'protecting it's own' which is a fucking terrible attitude and in my mind makes all cops culpable for the crimes of the "bad apples". So I'm still acab overall.
But most of my interactions with the police have been pretty decent, and that includes being questioned as a suspect (for something that I may not have been innocent of...) They don't 'solve' many petty crimes like burglary that actual effect normal people but they are generally university educated and properly trained.
I now live in France, where the police are none of those things. I've only heard bad things about them ranging from patronising and incompetent to raping student protesters in the back of the police van. I would never ask a French cop for help, but unless I was high or carrying something illegal, i wouldn't be worried about talking to a Scottish policeman.
Same in about every western civilized country, and many countries outside, too. American cops are relatively untrained, especially when it comes to non-standard situations, where they often stress out and overrreact due to lack of training.
In Japan, they seem to do their jobs ok. Definitely don't give any aggressive or evil vibes but feel like they lack assertiveness.
My impression is that it is certainly a lot worse in the US than here in Germany. I imagine the abundance of guns means that being a cop is fucking dangerous, which means they will get uneasy in conflicts quite logically, but also that it's not exactly a job you go for, if you have aspirations in life. I mean, why would anyone voluntarily become a cop in the US, if not to abuse your power?
I think Germany is known for serious police. In fact, I half remember a joke about that... something about the perfection of a British Cop, a German car, and an French Chef -- compared to the misery of a German Cop, a French car, and a British Chef.
Obviously not funny in the mangling, but the joke wasn't that German cops were bad, just not the generally pleasant 'fair cop' stereotype of Brits.
Personally,. the stereotypes that have stuck in my head are: that low-level officials in India (including cops) can be bribed to look the other way for minor things, Nordic cops are well trained in de-escalation and restraint techniques where no one gets injured, Brit cops might be fair or might be racist, but the laws give better protection to citizens, and that German cops are stern, and will rigidly follow and enforce all laws and rules... generally. Not sure if it is true or not, but I've also heard that German cops will fuck you up if you give them reason, but you'd really have to give them reason.
Being a pizza delivery driver is more dangerous than being a cop in the USA.
Heh, it may seem like the risks of being shot as a cop are high. And I guess it is, compared to something like being an office worker.
But cops shoot way more citizens than shoot them, and they kill way more as well. It could be argued that those are defensive shootings, but, well, we know they aren't all justified at all. And enough of those police killing citizens are against entirely unarmed people that it's absurd. That's also ignoring the dogs they kill, when they kill each other, and that even the defensive shootings are often escalated by the police rather than them dealing with someone out to kill them.
But, for real, it used to be a job you could be proud of, if you ignored al the systemic problems. There's still people that go into it wanting to make a difference, to help people and serve their community. You'll not get rich as an honest cop, but it's an okay living compared to jobs requiring similar levels of training and education. There's health coverage, paid time off, a union that backs officers well. If you only see the surface, it's a great job.
It's under the surface that gets you, and since most cops start their career fairly young, they don't know that going in. Those get weeded out fast though. Sometimes when other cops turn on them for not wanting to be dirty. Sometimes lethally
It’s everywhere. It’s just a matter of more or less.
It's complicated and depends on the place.
In countries without money or great infrastructure, often the police have just as little training and education as the US and often give in to corruption in similar ways.
In other, more wealthy countries, the police often have far more training and may generally be less corrupt and abusive because of the extensive training, but that does not mean that they are perfect nor fall prey to being controlling simply because they've been state sanctioned to be able to control.
It is to be noted that the US literally goes out of its way to choose candidates that are more likely to respond violently than not, including giving them personality tests that seek out that behavior during the initial screening process.
Speaking of corruption, there are places where you don't call the cops under any circumstances. If you somehow end up talking to cops for any reason, you can expect to loose a lot of money.
The police officer could request a bribe or threaten with fake fines. There could also be harassment, abuse of power and even violence. The police forces can actually form a sort of government-owned mafia, where lower-ranking officers are expected to collect bribes and pass them up the chain of command.
My experience with Chinese cops has been nothing but wonderful. Not the same for US ones. They peppered sprayed students during a local Palestinian protest…
The Hong Kong protests, though... I'm not saying that's worse than American police, but I have little reason to believe they'd be much better, either. Your experience may not reflect the whole truth.
Depends.
Non-political issues: Probabaly much better than the US.
Political issues: Much worse than the US.
Wait until you hear what they did at a peaceful protest at Kent State.
If you read the Japanese internet, tons would say they're at least the latter two. I'm sure some might also argue the first as well.
ACAB means ACAB.
