[jamestnz]

Interesting comment.

> I believe in most other countries jail would have been imminent out of disrespect.

Is this part accurate? In the (admittedly few) countries where I have spent a lot of time and have gained any real experience dealing with the police, they have proven to have a relatively genial and pro-community outlook, aiming more to help people and prevent harm, rather than browbeating and abusing people.

My impression is that the so-called offence of "contempt of cop" (i.e. being arrested for being a smart-ass or upsetting a cop's feelings, rather than any genuine breach of the law or peace) is a bit of a North American phenomenon, but no doubt my perception is being affected by sampling bias there, having been exposed to American media etc.

In my (non-American) experience, you must push things incredibly far to get anything more than a sarcastic laugh or eye-roll or "move along, mate" from a cop.

[NikolaNovak]

>> a bit of a North American phenomenon,

My limited experience/awareness of Eastern European countries - you do not disrespect the police... oh boy, you do not :O

[throw55324]

This was one of the most shocking events I experienced when visiting China.

You read how it’s basically a “police state” but the reality is the people argue and yell at the cops all the time!

Cops in China seem to almost have no authority in regular interactions. My local coworkers would basically just ignore their commands and talk back to them.

Granted, I was in Shanghai and the people I was with were middle class locals, so perhaps that’s why the interactions were like that.

Still, if I acted that way back home, I know I would have been arrested.

[squarefoot]

It (mostly) works like that pretty much everywhere, not only in North America where probably the news system make the phenomenon more noticeable. I think it's the result of bad selection done on purpose: the effect is that it moves the blame to the police rather than those who give them orders and power, and apparently it works. And then there's that thing about steroids abuse which if proven would explain a lot since the side effects of that shit match suspiciously close to how abusive violent cops behave.

[sansnomme]

Similarly, photography during a traffic accident is enough to get you into trouble with the cops in Deutschland. There are plenty of ways to run afoul of law enforcement without actually breaching the peace.

[olingern]

I come from small town America and NYC, so I'm jaded. There are a lot of good cops out there who set out with good intentions, but I believe their training is inadequate. In my experience, they do not act as stewards of a community, but rather someone with power who is to be feared.

In regards to my comment of "most other countries," I believe 'most' could be changed to 'many'

[javajosh]

American police are corrupted by a catastrophically broken justice system that, in effect, makes cops judge, jury, and executioner. I call it the "martial law bubble" that surrounds each cop. That's bad enough but what makes it galling is how they expect you to be grateful and friendly when stopped and fined, questioned, etc.

But I honestly don't think its their fault. A working justice system would mean a) getting arrested is no big deal, and b) cops are held accountable for their excesses.

(The system is broken because of capacity, complexity of law, powerful police unions, and voter apathy and ignorance)

[zzzcpan]

> but rather someone with power who is to be feared

That's the core of police country idea.

[ryanlol]

Will training really turn assholes into stewards of a community?

[threatofrain]

Police have no such legal obligation to be stewards of the community, anymore than Google must be the champion of righteousness. From what do we assume that without incentive or structure that one day moral expectation is sufficient to bring forth the character and quality we expect?

Is this not similar to calling for more medical or legal ethics classes?

[glangdale]

You could easily get put away for "contempt of cop" here in Australia. This goes double if you are the wrong sort of person to talk back to a cop: e.g. indigenous. For a while there was a holy trinity: "disorderly conduct" (anything they wanted), "resisting arrest" (when they grab you randomly) and "obscene language" (when the person says 'fuck this').

Maybe things are better in NZ but I would not experiment with "contempt of cop" here in Sydney unless I had a nice clear schedule and didn't mind spending a bit of time behind bars.

[HatchedLake721]

Eastern Europe, Russia - be nice and respectful to the police, otherwise it’ll cost you time and sometimes can hurt

[kristianc]

> In my (non-American) experience, you must push things incredibly far to get anything more than a sarcastic laugh or eye-roll or "move along, mate" from a cop.

It probably depends on where you are too. I witnessed a guy beating his kids with a belt in full public view outside a Chick Fil A two blocks from Times Square - the police had no interest at all in chasing it up.

[kshacker]

In today's age? This millenium?

[ekianjo]

> countries where I have spent a lot of time and have gained any real experience dealing with the police, they have proven to have a relatively genial and pro-community outlook, aiming more to help people and prevent harm

Where have you been?

[ur-whale]

>My impression is that the so-called offence of "contempt of cop" (i.e. being arrested for being a smart-ass or upsetting a cop's feelings, rather than any genuine breach of the law or peace) is a bit of a North American phenomenon

correlates with my experience as well.