Its not the same. In the US , you are not exposed at all to petty corruption, and the judicial system is mostly fair and works at a decent pace for all. Howeve

Its not the same. In the US , you are not exposed at all to petty corruption, and the judicial system is mostly fair and works at a decent pace for all. However you are more likely to end up dead and or without recourse when the police turn hostile for whatever reason. The police is a guild that suceeds in protecting its members. Elsewhere, down south, everyone is exposed to petty corruption, and generally, justice is far from fair and slow. However, you can pretty much get things done quickly ...with cash. On the positive side, police don't go crazy on the avg person. They do seem to have some kind of respect to life. This is not because people are nicer, but because incentives are aligned : arresting or abusing the wrong person very quickly lands you in hot water, fired, with no income (lack of jobs) or even worse. Police mostly can't tell if a person is the son/daughter of some person with connections, and that is a positive externality. The police is a profit-driven bureaucracy to protects its riches. Cross a "contract", or fail to abide by the rules, you are cut loose. Police as a profit-driven bureaucracy can turn very nasty however when certain illegal industries use their money to leverage their power (drugs, etc). That's when you end up in situation's like Mexico's.