Hey, Derrick, glad you've enjoyed your stay in Portugal and Spain.
It's true that generally cops are perceived as less aggressive than in the US here. I think the reason for that is that here the authorities perceive the population as less of a threat to them, since people here are generally more cowed down and obedient, and even if they're not they're much more easily controllable. They don't need to instill that much fear of authority in the general public as far as individual occurrances, raiding homes, killing pets, shooting people on a whim etc.
Many say it's because we "can't have guns", well, not exactly, but guns are registered and generally gun-owners are supporters of the state anyway (even in the US but there you have also many constitutionalists and libertarians that are armed) .
They can have more trouble from demonstrators and protestors, who could riot in the streets, that's why here they tend to power-up anti-riot units, and when they're used they're usually pretty violent and brutal, as they've also seen in Barcelona in recent times.
Sorry for the long comment, my 2 cents about it ;)
Take care!
You are viewing a single comment's thread from: