The police in New Zealand and Australia seem to be a lot less agressive than their American counterparts. I don't ever hear of stories like the original post come from either country.
I'm a cyclist, and one of the big cycle equipment blogs is DCRainmaker.
He ran a story about a run-in with some Australian cops while on a ride that is just mind-blowing in how different it is from similar run-ins with American police.
Great to see some anecdotes to support my gut feelings on this! I am amazed that Americans would consider this pleasant police behaviour. As an Australian, I consider this unnecessary and heavy handed, although it gives me more than a little pride that the cops were able to admit to being wrong.
It's horrifying when you stop to think that any police car going by could end with a bad interaction to some degree, completely depending on how the officer feels about you or in general. Baring extraordinary circumstances, that officer will completely get away with it as well.
Same in Canada (where I live). We have a few higher-crime neighborhoods in my city, mostly occupied by non-white people, and the police don't really patrol around those areas. They come out if you call them.
The police in my city mostly target native americans, which commit the most crime here. But the cops aren't violent or forceful from what I've seen. Most of the time they just come out because someone is drunk and being a nuisance, so they come out and talk to the person/people and get them to move on from the area.
I'm not sure what happens with reserve police. You have to get a warrant to enter reserve property if you are city police or mounted. I think mostly they don't even bother.
Yes. Australian police are racist specifically against indigenous peoples. To even suggest this is really dangerous in Australia, which is why it continues to happen without most people noticing. It's terrible.
