> I'm curious how the US is so unique in this regard. Culture, policing attitude, guns and the fact that the only thing lesser than the training US police offi

> I'm curious how the US is so unique in this regard. Culture, policing attitude, guns and the fact that the only thing lesser than the training US police officers receive is the bar to becoming one. In most western countries becoming a police officer is a multi-year selective process, with lots and lots of training for conflict resolution, lessons on psychology, and of course the law. In the US you can be let loose on the streets in as little as 3 months. Then once you're past the street level, the US also imposes much higher sentences on average, and punishment continues even after your sentence is served - by marking you as a felon for the rest of your life and locking you out of many opportunities for leading a normal life. Hello to high recidivism rates. The prison term itself, the punishment, is also just that: punishment. Prison conditions are inhumane. If you treat humans as something lesser, they will behave accordingly. That's the rough picture.