4 ms·

Police in the US are very much not like police in other Anglo countries; they are much more adversarial. Not to say the other police are perfect, but it seems

by vacri 11y ago

Police in the US are very much not like police in other Anglo countries; they are much more adversarial. Not to say the other police are perfect, but it seems much worse in the US. Example: I'm from Australia, and was recounting a story here on HN about how I don't like that subtle power play when police pull you over and talk down to you in the car. So I get out (I'm very tall) and wait for them in a friendly manner. It changes the tone of the traffic stop. Doesn't change the outcome, but it's hard for them to talk down to someone they have to physically look up to. On relaying this story, multiple HN'ers from the US thought I was genuinely putting my life at risk of being shot by the police, and told me I should never ever do that. This is a genuinely foreign concept to me - that I should be fearful that police might be predisposed to shooting me for getting out of the car. That these folks even have that general fear speaks volumes as to the excessive force the US police use.

AnimalMuppet 11y ago
But see, in the US, the occupants of cars are much more likely to try to use force on police officers, too. (And remember how many Americans are armed.) The police officers are literally in a position where they have to evaluate each move you make in (I'd guess) about half a second. If they shoot when they shouldn't, it may destroy their career. If they don't shoot when they should, they may die. I don't know, but I suspect that Australians are much less likely to shoot at or otherwise attack police officers...
- vacri 11y ago
  I agree with you in that part of the issue is the armed populace in the US (Australia is very much an unarmed populace, and always has been; ignore most of what you hear about the 1996 gun bans from anyone). Another part of the issue is the 'us vs them' attitude that appears to be more prevalent in US policing (and in US politics in general). In contrast, the UK's police tries to follow the Peelian Principles, which are designed to avoid the 'us vs them' mentality. For my money, I'd rather have a population without guns, if it means we don't have to be scared of the people we hire to keep our cities orderly. The armed population in the US doesn't seem to be rising up against government transgressions there any more than the unarmed population does here, so it doesn't seem like the rationale for amendment #2 holds water.

by vacri 11y ago

AnimalMuppet 11y ago

But see, in the US, the occupants of cars are much more likely to try to use force on police officers, too. (And remember how many Americans are armed.) The police officers are literally in a position where they have to evaluate each move you make in (I'd guess) about half a second. If they shoot when they shouldn't, it may destroy their career. If they don't shoot when they should, they may die. I don't know, but I suspect that Australians are much less likely to shoot at or otherwise attack police officers...

vacri 11y ago
I agree with you in that part of the issue is the armed populace in the US (Australia is very much an unarmed populace, and always has been; ignore most of what you hear about the 1996 gun bans from anyone). Another part of the issue is the 'us vs them' attitude that appears to be more prevalent in US policing (and in US politics in general). In contrast, the UK's police tries to follow the Peelian Principles, which are designed to avoid the 'us vs them' mentality. For my money, I'd rather have a population without guns, if it means we don't have to be scared of the people we hire to keep our cities orderly. The armed population in the US doesn't seem to be rising up against government transgressions there any more than the unarmed population does here, so it doesn't seem like the rationale for amendment #2 holds water.