In article , Tim Streater
wrote:
On 17 Dec 2020 at 18:49:18 GMT, charles wrote:

In article , Tim Streater
wrote:
On 17 Dec 2020 at 18:15:05 GMT, Robin wrote:

FTAOD I am not denying that many American police have problems,
just seeking the basis for "what everybody knows".

The problems the US has in this regard are structural. Start with the
fact that in the UK (pop: 65M) there are 43 or so police forces. Then
note that in the US, (pop: 350M or so, so 5 times as many, give or
take) there are more than 15,000 separate police forces.

Tiny police forces is a recipe for bias.

But even our police forces behave in a racist way - including the
largest

Agreed but the results are rather worse there than here. And there, the
Chief of Police is elected and probably on the same ticket as the Mayor.
Meaning closer political control. And before you say that our PCCs are
elected, the PCC doesn't have operational control, that remains with the
Chief Constable.

Personally I was always rather dubious about the UK having PCCs, for just
this sort of reason.

You also need to realise that PCC stands for "Police & Crime Commissioner".
Why do we pay somebody to commission crimes?

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle