Its no surprise if I told you that deadly or physical clashes between the police in the United States versus many other first world countries are a night and day difference. Other western countries hardly even supply the majority of their officers with weapons because the chance of encountering a scenario that would need one is much lower. Yes it is probably different because many people in the United States carry weapons so any situation could become a hazard, but I have an opinion on why so many police killings and just deadly clashes end up happening.
In my opinion one of the worst reasons why police officers seem so trigger happy and are so quick to draw a gun in any situation is primarily because its what their training teaches them. I have friends who have gone through the police academy and they are taught to pull the gun out first before any sort of escalation techniques and that simply wont work. People who are distraught and already upset are far more likely to snap when you shove a gun in their face. New officers arent taught that they need to judge each situation differently either, but rather to go by the book. This really bites them in the ass in the long run.
You also need to look at the pool of officers in our country and where they are being pulled from. A large portion of police officers are people who have transitioned from the military and gone through a completely different form of training. When you are being trained for the military you are taught pull out a gun shoot now and ask questions later. When you are a police officer you are supposed to be protecting the population not controlling them. The vast majority of situations officers are dealing with people that dont want to harm them, so if they go in with the mindset like every situation is life or death, they set themselves up for failure.
Part of the reason admittedly is the perception of the police in the United States. Even from a young age people are taught that the police are to be feared and not trusted, especially in higher crime areas. Even in a good neighborhood where I live many people actively dislike the police. The amount of corruption that takes place with little things is a huge problem. Also I would say that the type of person that applies to be a police officer is usually someone that is seeking some type of control which brings bad candidates.
Overall I think that the reason why there are so many clashes are a mix of things, but at the core its that the public doesnt trust the police force and vice versa. These ideas need to be changed over a long period of time and young people now need to be taught to trust the police which is the opposite of what is happening. That being said the police also need to earn our trust which they currently are not. I expect things to only get worse in time as the police has recently started to seem more and more like an occupying force rather than a protective one. Only time will tell though but my hopes are low the situation will improve.
-Calaber24p
There are good cops and bad cops. Unfortunately the guns are a big force multiplier and it really amplifies the bad.
I agree about the training. I think it goes hand-in-hand with the general militarization of our culture as a whole - which starts in school, where kids are raised to follow orders, take standardized tests, and not ask questions.
What can we now call this? Or can we trace the this into a basic level Where children are being exposed to various things at their early years.
If anyone has traveled to another country, chances are you will see the police are indeed your friends.
We are told the U.S. is the most free country in the world, after traveling to various places in Asia and South America I can tell you that this is bullshit.
In the U.S., I agree the militarization of the police is a big issue, they are oppressive and look for reasons to arrest, imprison and generally screw with the general population.
"Police are your friends " that's one of the slogans they always say. But do they put it into practice?
Police this days pay more attention to non -criminal offences rather than protecting citizens. There is a case similar to that in my country (Nigeria ) where police officers will be collecting people's bags and materials claiming they are looking for unlawful materials.
They harass people on the street both male and female, they can also ask a woman to kneel down and they would beat her mercilessly mainly because of the type of cloth she wear. Still they claimed "police is our friend "
That's horrifying. I thought things were bad in the US but I think you may have us beat on this one.
More than what you can imagine my friend. Government is allocating billions of dollars every year on ammunition and security budget, and still the security of the country is still under questions.
Or can we say there is adequate security where more than 200 students had been kidnapped and they found nothing to do about it.
Sounds like a few people are getting paid an awful lot to do very little. Stay safe, my friend.
Thank you so much for your concern
Good post.amazing
interesting!