It's all about communication. If people see the police as their partner, they'll be happy to help them do their job (at least in the UK).
Unfortunately, that ship sailed long ago when the police stopped treating the community as their partner and started treating people with suspicion by default.
Annecdote: I’m very happy with the local police in my community.
There are of course correlations and general trends that can be observed. In recent years there’s been a lot of attention on the disproportionate rate of police shootings involving racial minorities. That’s a problem. But it’s not an all police departments by all communities by all times problem.
Isn't this solved fairly easily?
"Whatcha upto mate?"
"Photographing the trains. I like trains"
"Oh one of those. Off I go!"
I don't know how that interaction would go in the UK, but I think in the states it would start fairly aggressively (demanding ID/barking orders), which in turn makes people who like to photograph infrastructure for artistic reasons dig their heels in, say they have a right to photograph in public, and refuse additional questions.
Interestingly, if I had to rate the approachability of cops, I'd put Japan > UK >> USA. And tbh, that's far down the list. In America, you try to avoid the police, even if you're law abiding. In the UK, you might have a chat.
After the morons started driving vans into crowds and attacking them with knives they stepped up armed officer patrols at busy times in my local city center.
My stepson was frightened as he'd never seen anyone wandering around with a gun before so I took him over and said hello and he was asking the copper all the awkward questions a young kid would :).
After that he started waving at them (and they have always waved back).
It's sad we have to have heavily armed officers on foot patrol but by and large they are damn good at their job.
Also the criteria for been an armed officer is quite strict, you have to be a full officer after probation (2 years) and a volunteer and physically fit then you get extra training.
If you do have to shoot someone you are automatically took out the field until the IPCC has gone over it in detail.
It's not perfect, nothing human is but it's a good balance.
Also, they appear to shoot their citizens less often, which probably helps.
Just to give an example, I live in Serbia and policemen are armed. Police is far from clean, corruption is present as everywhere and there are obvious ties between crime and police. However, when it comes to the small guy, on the streets, on public events or encounters with an officer I can't say you should be cocerned with your own safety. Sometimes they are armed with rifles, when riskier events take place. Sometimes they are not the most pleasant. But I don't remember the last time I heard an officer discharge a weapon. Funny as it may seem, nobody wants dead bodies in his career. Pieceful de-escalation is a usual crisis outcome. There are a lot of veterans, PTSD sufferers and desperate people around here. Just think of the madness if police charges everywhere guns blazing... This went off topic...
Furthermore, the public image of patrol officer death typically involves violent shootouts with criminals, but in reality death by homicide only accounts for about half of patrol officer deaths, with death by automobile making up the rest. For 2013 10.8 officers died per 100,000, with 49% dying by car accident, 45% by homicide, and 6% by other causes.
This pales in comparison to the homicide rate for pregnant women, with up to 10.5 women being murdered per 100,000[0]. This means that a pregnant woman is as likely to be murdered as a cop is likely to die on the job from all causes, and said pregnant woman is twice as likely to be murdered than any cop.
So there’s your answer. But then constitutional rights yada yada. Just the idea that the other party had a deadly weapon, escalates things really fast.
Just earlier we had a post about people pulling the emergency brakes on NYC subway cars. For decades it was fine. Suddenly people are causing some chaos.
That’s about it. People will exploit weaknesses and we all lose.
Examples:
> Photography: Taking photographs of UAE military facilities, sensitive civilian sites, airports, some beaches, or foreign diplomatic missions – including the U.S. Embassy or Consulate General – may result in arrest, detention, and/or prosecution by local authorities. Travelers should be aware of signs which indicate where photography is prohibited. Note that it is illegal to take photographs of other people without their consent. In addition, engaging in mapping activities, especially mapping that includes the use of GPS equipment, without coordination with UAE authorities, may have the same consequences.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-tra...
> Photography: Photographing military installations is forbidden. Individuals have been detained and/or had their cameras and film confiscated for taking pictures of hospitals, schools, bridges, industrial sites, and airports. Sites where photography is prohibited are not always marked.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-tra...
Got marched to a police station and interrogated in Mozambique for it
Other countries designate key infrastructure as strategic
The whole situation is unfortunate since there's a lot of cool looking government buildings and infrastructure out there.
Some people are naturally anxious/nervous in public and a place like airports with TSA agents strip searching you and ordering you around like cattle can appear to be "suspicious" behavior.