I tend to think that this is a bit of a chicken and the egg kind of thing. I don't think it's any surprise that cops reflect the broader culture from which they come. If the neighbourhood is like a war zone, then the cops will be like soldiers, which in turn feeds back into the general negative atmosphere there. It seems like a real feedback loop. Were cops always like they are now in the U.S.?
In Australia, cops can be insufferable, belligerent pricks, but to be honest, the average Australian can be an insufferable, belligerent prick. Some cops are probably the worst of the insufferable, belligerent pricks and naturally gravitate towards being policemen. Others become that way through dealing with the dregs of humanity on a daily basis. Go to a police station in an upper class suburb of Melbourne and the cops are easy enough to deal with. Go to a police station in a lower/under class suburb and you can practically see the hairs on the backs of their necks stand up when they see you.
I would say the same thing is true for anyone who has a job that involves authoritative interactions with the public. I've worked in a fair number of underclass schools and there is definitely a siege mentality there. Indeed, at one school, I worked with a guy who was an ex-cop. He said he became a teacher because he was sick of dealing with society's dregs. Yet he wanted to get out of that school in particular, and teaching in general, for the same reason, and was contemplating becoming a cop again!
So whilst we might say that the police are this or that, I can tell you right now that there's no way I'd want to be a policeman. I can't see how doing such a job could possibly do anything but make one more jaded about humanity.
Here in Taiwan, I am sure that the cops are involved in corruption and so on, but on a daily basis, they're incredibly lax. Westerners complain endlessly about traffic cops. They actually drive down the road with their lights on so everyone knows they're there, which makes everyone behave themselves until the cops are out of sight. Even when they set up roadblocks, they wave 90% of people through. They don't even blink when they see some dude driving the wrong way down the road or doing other such things. Sometimes, driving here is a bit hectic, but I have actually grown to appreciate the fairly lax policing here. I really do think that the fact that a lot of cops here are distinctly non-confrontational is precisely because it's a non-confrontational society.
In Australia, cops can be insufferable, belligerent pricks, but to be honest, the average Australian can be an insufferable, belligerent prick. Some cops are probably the worst of the insufferable, belligerent pricks and naturally gravitate towards being policemen. Others become that way through dealing with the dregs of humanity on a daily basis. Go to a police station in an upper class suburb of Melbourne and the cops are easy enough to deal with. Go to a police station in a lower/under class suburb and you can practically see the hairs on the backs of their necks stand up when they see you.
I would say the same thing is true for anyone who has a job that involves authoritative interactions with the public. I've worked in a fair number of underclass schools and there is definitely a siege mentality there. Indeed, at one school, I worked with a guy who was an ex-cop. He said he became a teacher because he was sick of dealing with society's dregs. Yet he wanted to get out of that school in particular, and teaching in general, for the same reason, and was contemplating becoming a cop again!
So whilst we might say that the police are this or that, I can tell you right now that there's no way I'd want to be a policeman. I can't see how doing such a job could possibly do anything but make one more jaded about humanity.
Here in Taiwan, I am sure that the cops are involved in corruption and so on, but on a daily basis, they're incredibly lax. Westerners complain endlessly about traffic cops. They actually drive down the road with their lights on so everyone knows they're there, which makes everyone behave themselves until the cops are out of sight. Even when they set up roadblocks, they wave 90% of people through. They don't even blink when they see some dude driving the wrong way down the road or doing other such things. Sometimes, driving here is a bit hectic, but I have actually grown to appreciate the fairly lax policing here. I really do think that the fact that a lot of cops here are distinctly non-confrontational is precisely because it's a non-confrontational society.