+6
My take on the problem with the US Police,
-You have 50 sovereign states all with differing laws.
-In each state you have State Police, bigger cities have their own dept, and County Sheriffs, then various Federal agencies.
-So, over 3000 sheriff "fiefdoms" elected by the community, I'm not sure if State Superintendents are elected or not.
So the problem with the above is inconsistency, as far as I'm aware all European countries have 1 police force, divided into areas/counties with their own commissioners, but all answerable to Government.
So all it takes is a couple of bad areas led by bad cops, or elected by good God fearing folk to keep the "lower class" citizens in line. Go to Netflix right now and you can find dozens of documentaries about shocking miscarriages of justice.
Then to compound the problem,
-Shocking lack of punishment against Police unless there is a video.
-Thin Blue Line, Brothhood mentality, us vs them, anyone who dares inform against another cop will suffer(see officer fired for stopping officer choking suspect).
-Militarization of Police, are they the army or there to protect their communities? It isn't clear sometimes. How many people or pets have to die in over aggressive no knock raids?
-Financial cost of fighting back against injustice, and laws making it near impossible to sue Police.
-Awful Police Unions who fight tooth and nail for the very worst officers.
- Low or virtually non existant educational requirements in the US to become a Police officer.
I believe the vast majority of Police are likely decent folk but the setup in the US makes it too easy to be a bad cop and get away with it, particularly in rural southern areas.
Last edited by gandalf26; 06-02-20 at 10:40 AM.