Questions tagged [police]
Questions related to the civil force of a state, responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the maintenance of public order.
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Why can't police beat citizens to enforce Covid lockdown? [closed]
Corporal punishment by Indian police in India was heavily criticized in the Western press -
Teargas, beatings, and bleach: the most extreme Covid-19 lockdown controls around the world
Why is it ...
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Does the Met Police Commissioner have the authority to "clean house"?
The news are reporting Cressida Dick's forced resignation as the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (meaning London, UK) following her preceived failure to adequately tackle racism and misogyny ...
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What does the police to civilian ratio depend on?
Here is a list in Wikipedia that tells us the ratios of police vs civilians in various countries around the world.
I failed to think of any rationale about how those countries determine the number of ...
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Why does New York City spend 3 times as much per year per inmate than the runner up King County (Seattle)?
New York City spends nearly 450k per prisoner per year, which is almost 3 times higher than second place King County (which contains Seattle). Why is New York such an outlier?
Source: Vera Institute ...
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Did congress increase the U.S. Capitol Police budget by $2 Billion?
I've seen a discussion that implies there was a vote to increase the Capitol Police budget by $2 Billion, while the DC metropolitan police budget has been cut. It is also being suggested that the ...
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How to differ "angry mobs" from "fighters for freedom"? [closed]
I'm looking at those images and cannot understand how western correspondents (for example), differ "lawful use of force" from "unlawful use of force" (on the last image).
2020, US:
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Is there any international reaction on police violence in France?
On those holidays another round of anti-Covid protests took place in France:
Protests were suppressed rudely, with police violence and water cannons.
Is there any reaction from international ...
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Why is the Capitol Police expanding nationally, when we already have the FBI?
Capitol Police is setting up field offices in California and Florida, with more states likely to follow. I don't understand why though. The official reason given is to "track threats", but ...
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Is there any data about partisanship inside US police departments or armed forces?
Is there any open data about the extent of partisan division among the police or armed forces in the United States?
If such data does not exist, why might that be? For example, is there some law which ...
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Is the Israeli police and justice system discriminatory?
This article in The Intercept says that the police response to the recent surge of violence in Israel has been "almost exclusively" against Palestinians (Israeli Arabs), even though "...
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What options do state governments have when the local DA declines to prosecute a case?
Hypothetically, a resident of a large city in state X is accused of committing a crime of small to moderate severity. The local district attorney decides, for whatever reason, to not prosecute, and ...
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How can I compare levels of police violence in different states of the world?
Some states in the world are perceived as having very violent policing; while others are considered repressive generally, but not necessarily via the police being violent .
I was wondering if there is ...
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Are female police officers one-sixth as likely to kill as their male colleagues?
The incidence of people dying due to use of force by the police is a high profile issue at the moment. Figures about the distribution of these deaths, such as found in this paper, can be compared to ...
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Are police in Western European countries right-wing or left-wing?
In America, the police have a reputation for being politically conservative. One rarely sees clashes between conservative demonstrators and police.
In Europe, though, there seem to be lots of clashes ...
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What happens to rank-and-file law-enforcement after major regime change [closed]
The question is inspired by the current situation in Myanmar, but since at the time of writing what will happen remains to be seen and obviously people on here can't predict the future, but surely ...
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Why do so many Sheriffs run unopposed in the US?
I read that nearly 60% of the incumbent Sheriffs run unopposed. Why is that?
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Do other countries provide police the same degree of immunity that USA police officers have?
In the USA, police have a high degree of immunity for their actions in the line of duty. It is nearly impossible to sue an individual officer due to qualified immunity, and one can't sue a precinct ...
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Is there a "unified command" over all the defense forces in Washington D.C.?
A Unified Combatant Command is a task organized command structure used to coordinate forces around one objective. Examples include CENTCOM (https://www.centcom.mil/), which coordinates the armed ...
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What can be done at the Federal level to increase police accountability? [duplicate]
There are a vast wealth of carefully documented instances with video evidence of police misconduct in the US. Often times the departments internally investigate and find no wrongdoing, even when it's ...
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Can members of congress carry weapons into the chamber?
Congresswoman Boebert has stated that she will bring a loaded glock into the DC. The article here says that weapons can be carried around the streets of Washington D.C but a permit is required. ...
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Comparing the summer of 2020's BLM protests to the events at the Capitol on 6th January, 2021
I realize that this is a contentious matter and do not want to start a heated discussion. In fact, having just come from one, I don't want a discussion at all - just some dispassionate, neutral, ...
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Did the FBI inform the US Capitol Police on the level of possible threat on Jan 6?
It's been reported that following the rioting and break-ins from Trump supporters at the Capitol, both the (acting) chief of the US Capitol Police and the Seargents at Arms of both chambers have ...
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Whose responsibility is the physical security of the US Capitol?
It will seem, at first glance, like this question has an easy answer; the US Capitol Police. It might be that that's the answer, but I'm not sure whether it goes more in-depth than that. During the ...
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Can the US police be replaced with minorities volunteer squads? [closed]
As long, as George Floyd killing reveals huge problems in the US police departments, discrimination and racism in the US police, some reform was started. But it isn't clear, would it change anything ...
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How do progressive US political thinkers explain anti-black police discrimination in cities where the population and government are majority black?
There is a common narrative among progressive political and racial thinkers in the United States that all or almost all police departments are systematically racist in a way that does significant and ...
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Is defunding the police compatible with a libertarian mindset?
In light of recent tragedies, many people have been saying "defund the police". I'm a moderate conservative and moderate libertarian and generally think that defunding the police is a bad ...
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Why are American Juvenile Curfew Laws not Unconstitutional?
Many jurisdictions in the United States have curfew laws, which prohibit youth of a certain age (usually under 18) from being in public or in a business establishment during certain hours.
Given the ...
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Do people in countries besides the US react negatively to "militarized police"?
A 2018 PNAS study concludes that
militarized “special weapons and tactics” (SWAT) teams are more often deployed in communities of color, and—contrary to claims by police administrators—provide no ...
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What can local governments do to reform the police & policing? [closed]
Much of the oversight power for police departments and sheriff departments is with local government.
For example, in Michigan, the elected officials that oversee police departments in cities are City ...
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Amongst U.S. police forces, are combat veterans more likely to abuse force than those who lack combat experience? [closed]
In the United States, amongst police forces, are combat veterans more likely to abuse force than those who lack combat experience?
In my opinion, the main difficulties are in the definitions of ...
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What could the US federal government do to reform the police?
There is a widespread belief that policing in the USA suffers from systemic racism. Let us suppose that Joe Biden gets elected President and decides that this is a priority. Let us also suppose that ...
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Why does California Attorney General Xavier Becerra refuse to disclose records of police? [closed]
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is accused of illegally refusing to comply with Senate Bill 1421, which required him to disclose the records of police officers.
Why does he do this?
https://...
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Which states have weakened police unions’ collective bargaining power over disciplinary issues?
Matt Yglesias, liberal political columnist for Vox, just tweeted this:
Months into the era of everyone reading White Fragility and posting Black Lives Matter memes and declaring racism a public ...
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How does the release of George Floyd's death footage change the perception of his death? [closed]
The Daily Mail recently released the bodycam footage of the death of George Floyd. How does this video corroborate/counter the claims that have been made regarding the incident?
(One specific claim ...
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Is there any significance to calling state police "troopers"?
Does anyone know of a historical or legal reason in the US that state police get called "trooper", while the rank and file local law enforcement are referred to as "officer" (or &...
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In the US, what is the meaning of "declaring a Riot"?
According to CNN, the Portland Police Bureau "declared a riot" on July 4th, 2020 after protesters shot commercial grade fireworks at both the state and federal courthouses. Some local ...
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How can I respond to the DHS activities in Portland? [closed]
There are reports out of Portland, Oregon that federal officers are using certain tactics to try and disperse protesters. Suppose some citizen of the United States (but not Oregon itself) finds this ...
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What possible steps could be taken to fight racism in the police? [closed]
Within the US, what steps could be taken to try to prevent racism in the police?
For example, there is no strong 'test' for racism that can't be double-guessed. Even then, there is the potential that ...
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Why are CBP and other organizations within DHS allowed to arrest protestors?
As per the reporting about federal officers arresting protesters, I am wondering about the jurisdiction of the US's Department of Homeland Security. What is the specific legal purview that allows DHS ...
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Is the "Defund the police"-argument anti-police or not?
I am doing some research into the Defund the police-movement, and am finding increasingly contradictory information, and so my basic question is, is the movement anti-police or not?
On one hand, you ...
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What are Arguments in Favor of Qualified Immunity for Police Officers?
Currently there is concern about police brutality and overreach. One suggestion I've heard often is ending qualified immunity, and there are many videos with convincing arguments for removing the ...
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would making the Police a branch of the Military meet the demand of abolishing the police? [closed]
during a conversation with my family yesterday, an idea came to me of merging the Police and military as a potential solution to the demand of abolishing the police, but at the same time retaining a ...
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Why is the amount of training for police officers in the United States so low compared to other developed countries?
In the wake of current events the U.S. police have once again come under immense public scrutiny, putting the focus on various aspects such as police brutality, racial discrimination, qualified ...
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Is there any reason to believe that face masks increase the risk of racial profiling?
As established at Skeptics, Lincoln County, Oregon, legally requires everyone to wear facemasks to prevent the spread of covid...unless they are a person of color. In other words, only white people ...
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Why do US police use handcuffs in otherwise calm, non-violent circumstances?
When the Atlanta police recently discovered that a driver, who was otherwise calm and cooperative was "over the alcohol limit" after a long and largely fruitless conversation (during which ...
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What is the origin of the fears of racism associated with facial recognition technology?
If one pays attention to technology-based news all the big players in facial recognition technology are now refusing to provide this technology to the US government and/or police. When news reports ...
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Is the death rate due to police violence between men and women proportional?
According to https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/a/47814/25402 1 in 2000 men's cause of death is police violence while the corresponding number for women is 1 in 33 000.
Risk is highest for black ...
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What are the pros and cons of unionized vs non-unionized police force [duplicate]
My question is what are the advantages and disadvantages of unionized vs non-unionized police force.
This was one of the demands which was put forward by the Black Lives Movement. Below is an article ...
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What are the pros and cons of having police unions?
This is a follow up question which I asked here. There were a lot of great answers, the consensus seems to be that police unions could be outright dissolved or a new version of unions could form where ...
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Can the US President implement restrictions on police unionization
One potential for helping solve the problem of police brutality, as discussed in this question is to curb the power that police unions currently hold.
As it stands, disciplinary measures are subject ...
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