If you compare the standards to let’s say: Switzerland (2 years in the academy, the candidate must graduate with a diploma in policing. The first year is theoretical: mainly in the classroom learning about law, tactics and de-escalation. The second year is spent on the job in practical field training with a respective police force).

While police training in the US varies on state: but it’ll last up to 16-21 weeks (it’s pretty bad) before they’re sent on the streets, no wonder why you hear about cops resorting to violence first rather than a de-escalation. There’s an example from Norway where cops didn’t point their guns at a drunk guy, instead they laughed with him.

Both Norway & Switzerland DO NOT have qualified immunity for officers, meaning they are subjected to the same laws as every other citizen. But apparently the USA likes to consider cops above the law via qualified immunity (which is a reason why you barely hear an American cop being held accountable for their actions).

The responses are different: since US cops are like “GET DOWN!” or “DROP YOUR WEAPONS!” while Norwegian cops are like “Please, stop doing that” being said in a more pacifist tone that doesn’t evoke hostility (that’s an issue you hear from American cops, as they shoot first rather than trying to talk their way out).

  • CrocodilloBombardino@piefed.social
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    14 hours ago

    Also, as an aside, the right wing in your country (if they are anything like the right wing in both the US and Europe) will want to make your police forces more like American cops in order to brutalize immigrants and “others”, then anyone they can label as “other” even if they are currently accepted (e.g. LGBTQIA+ people, religious or cultural minorities), then extend it to anyone that disagrees with them. It’s up to you to organize with your neighbors against them, because they will tear your society apart as they are doing in the US and elsewhere. They may start with your border police or other specialized forces before attempting to coopt local police.