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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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 ...
Mash's user avatar
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9 votes
4 answers
1k views

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 ...
Vincent's user avatar
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-7 votes
1 answer
155 views

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 ...
Mr. Anderson's user avatar
50 votes
2 answers
4k views

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 ...
AuronTLG's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
730 views

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 ...
Levi C. Olson's user avatar
79 votes
8 answers
15k views

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 ...
WS2's user avatar
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42 votes
8 answers
7k views

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 ...
dsollen's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
2k views

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 ...
d-b's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
76 views

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 ...
Slartibartfast's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

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 ...
Slartibartfast's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
214 views

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 ...
robbieperry22's user avatar
23 votes
5 answers
6k views

Can the police unions be dissolved?

One of the demands of Black Lives Matter (BLM) is to de-fund the police. At the center of it are the police unions, since the contracts are negotiated through the police unions. My question is as ...
Slartibartfast's user avatar
36 votes
4 answers
8k views

Can the so-called "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone" in Seattle be treated as an insurrection against the Federal Government?

According to latest news from Seattle, protesters now are controlling some parts of the city, preventing police from entering. Can it be treated as insurrection against Federal Government, according ...
user2501323's user avatar
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22 votes
3 answers
2k views

Why do police unions support police officers that have committed gross misconduct, given that they tarnish the reputation of all officers?

In many fields, professional bodies will vocally condemn members who commit misconduct. For example, medical associations, learned societies or unions will seek to end the careers of members who ...
D Greenwood's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
122 views

Is there a pattern in the US of "abusive" police officers moving around to escape accountability?

This recent PBS story gobsmacked me: San Francisco may stop hiring cops with records of misconduct The demand to reform police departments is causing some local governments to look at new regulations ...
Just Me's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
286 views

How would a police-free city or state work? [duplicate]

With the recent news around the abolishing of the Minneapolis police department, I wonder what the alternatives are and how they work? Is there any example anywhere on earth currently? I didn't find ...
Reza's user avatar
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0 answers
137 views

Did the US Floyd protests actually result in charges against the police officers involved

As of late, I have seen many arguing that the protests and riots in the US about the killing of George Floyd have been directly responsible for the increased charges against Derek Chauvin, and the new ...
robbieperry22's user avatar
82 votes
7 answers
11k views

Why is there a broad pattern of excessive force by police towards protestors in spite of international focus on this use of force?

Right now (June 2020), sparked by the murder of George Floyd, there have been a wave of protests against police brutality towards black Americans. In these very protests, there has also been a massive ...
Davis's user avatar
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14 votes
1 answer
1k views

What proposals exist for a large city disbanding and reconstituting its police force?

Minneapolis has voted to disband its police The Minneapolis city council has pledged to disband the city’s police department and replace it with a new system of public safety, a historic move that ...
Machavity's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
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To what extent do police departments in the US reflect in numerical terms the proportions of each race in the communities they serve?

In recent years Londoners have got used to the arrival of larger numbers of black and ethnic police men and women. It has involved a change in uniform for some, such as the now many Sikh officers in ...
WS2's user avatar
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26 votes
5 answers
4k views

Can society (under state rule) function without police?

Minneapolis has voted to disband its police department. This is in response to the BLM protests. Every developed society in the world has police forces. The police are one of the state's institutions ...
mbsq's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
613 views

Does the death of George Floyd represent the oppression of black people, or that of poor people generally?

The question mostly applies to America, but my own experience is with the UK. In Britain it is often said that a black person is twice as likely to die in police custody as a white person. That ...
WS2's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
204 views

Do American cops shoot black people more than white people in similar cases? [closed]

I want to know if the US police is really prejudiced against black people. I would most like statistics that answer the question: Do American cops shoot black people more than white people in ...
Amit Keinan's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
496 views

Why might the military be more useful in controlling the masses than the police?

In reading Dictators and Dictatorship: Understanding Authoritarian Regimes and Their Leaders, I came across this paragraph : the Cold War period was particularly amenable to military dictatorship “...
Pulse Reborn's user avatar
64 votes
3 answers
6k views

Why do US police treat using counterfeit money as an emergency?

One thing that surprises me about the George Floyd incident is that the police would treat the passing of a counterfeit $20 in a corner shop as some kind of an emergency. If someone called the ...
WS2's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
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Why do BLM protestors continue after all four police involved in the killing of George Floyd are facing charges?

Why do BLM protestors continue to protest now that all four police involved in the killing of George Floyd are facing charges and police around the country are being held accountable (e.g. the 6 ...
cadmonkey2's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
531 views

What are the responses to the police assaulting journalists during the 2020 protests in the US?

Countless* members of the press have been targeted and assaulted by the police for covering the current protests in the US. Has president Trump or his administration responded to these attacks? Have ...
tim's user avatar
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14 votes
3 answers
2k views

Who polices the police in the USA?

Who polices the police in the USA? Is there anyone a police officer has to answer to for committing racist acts, abusing their power, or committing other crimes unnecessarily?
Jonathan's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
504 views

What does it mean when the US cops wear the badges or T-shirts saying "I am the kneeling officer"?

What does it mean when the US police officers or other people wear the badges or T-shirts saying "I am the kneeling officer"? What about the collective kneeling actions?
Anixx's user avatar
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12 votes
4 answers
795 views

How can police brutality be prevented through policy?

Police Brutality (defined as a civil rights violation where officers exercise undue or excessive force against a civilian) is not equally prevalent in all governments and all places, which indicates ...
Phylliida's user avatar
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12 votes
3 answers
1k views

What is the “appropriate” civilian response to police abusing their power? [closed]

Police are tear-gassing civilians during a pandemic that exasperates respiratory conditions while there is a shortage of ventilators and hospital beds. How/why is this allowed? What is the “...
user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
1k views

Is there pervasive racial bias in United States policing?

Twitter user Leonydus Johnson posted the following statistics acquired from the FBI UCR Program website and the Washington Post: For every 10,000 black people arrested for violent crime, 3 are killed ...
jeremy909's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
193 views

Is there a list of human rights organizations monitoring the current use of force by police in the US?

During the law enforcing in the US, more press attacks happen: DW group shot at Minnesota CNN reporter was arrested Reuters crew hit with rubber bullets According to that obvious excessive use of ...
user2501323's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
127 views

Has Johnson's spokesman explained why he believes the Arcuri investigation was "a waste of police time"?

A report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct has found no evidence that Boris Johnson's relationship with Jennifer Arcuri caused him to influence the payment of any sponsorship monies to Ms ...
ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
177 views

Have the police forces in other countries besides India dressed in coronavirus costumes as an awareness campaign?

CNN etc. have pictures of Indian police forces in coronavirus costumes, as part of an awareness campaign Have other countries used similar in-person costumes for awareness campaigns?
the gods from engineering's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
303 views

Which EU country has the most violent police force?

I hope this is the right sub to post this in. I am looking for a peer-reviewed study which compares the number of violent incidences committed by police officers against civilians in different EU ...
user438383's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
107 views

How many people were sanctioned in Spain for criticizing the police, under Spain's 2015 "citizens security law"?

There have been some [2015] Spanish media reports that after the adoption of the 2015 Citizens Security Law (Ley Orgánica 4/2015), which among other things forbids "the unauthorized use of images ...
the gods from engineering's user avatar
-1 votes
3 answers
374 views

Are federal laws "optional" as a practical matter?

Does the precedent established by sanctuary cities and sanctuary states (and other precedents like legalized medicinal cannabis and gaming make all federal law and state law functionally "optional" as ...
Rain Willow's user avatar
  • 4,120
1 vote
1 answer
138 views

Can special prosecutor Dan Webb charge Jussie Smollet? [closed]

In a case that made political headlines, actor Jussie Smollett was charged with making false statements to Chicago police about a supposed hate crime he had experienced. But then the Illinois State ...
Keshav Srinivasan's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
159 views

Does any other Latin American country have a justice system in which the security forces can only be prosecuted by military courts?

According to a 2016 Amnesty article, the Chile justice system encourages brutality from the security forces because Chile’s military courts, which deal with cases of human rights violations committed ...
the gods from engineering's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
79 views

Was Ecuador govenrment already warned about inadmissibility of force using agains protesters?

As heard today, there is a civil standoff between military/police and protesters in Ecuador(some sources : 1, 2). Origin of protests(possibly) was implementing IMF economic recommendations, including ...
user2501323's user avatar
  • 11.8k
31 votes
4 answers
6k views

Who are the police in Hong Kong?

The current protests in Hong Kong have set me wondering where the police force are recruited from. Are they people who grew up in HK, or have they been bought in from mainland China? I ask because a ...
Paul Johnson's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
400 views

Enforcement of "anti-sodomy" laws in Qatar

Qatar has some "anti-sodomy" laws on the books, but the Wikipedia page on the topic gives the impression they were seldom enforced in the past couple of decades: In 1998 an American citizen ...
the gods from engineering's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
366 views

Is the there a term for state (or local) officers not caring about enforcing federal law?

I think it's generally accepted that in the US: state officers cannot be compelled to enforce federal law. For more details as to why that is accepted: In Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898, ...
the gods from engineering's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
665 views

Is there an international consensus about Privacy vs Security (How Much Data Should We Collect?)

On the one hand, privacy gives people leeway for free thought, freedom of expression, and criticism without fear of personal consequences. On the other hand, security ensures the structural integrity ...
ride_on_the_NOP_sled's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
237 views

Autonomy of Delhi Police

What kind of control does the Delhi government have over the Delhi Police? I just read an NDTV news report that a Delhi MP slapped a police officer in uniform in front of a crowd: Was Pushed, Says ...
Niteesh Shanbog's user avatar
-7 votes
1 answer
361 views

Why do nations require that police hires be more scrupulous than average?

Why are policemen generally required to first attest to being and remaining uncommonly virtuous, (even when off-duty), as a primary duty, rather than being mainly valued for their relative skills in ...
agc's user avatar
  • 12.9k
-2 votes
1 answer
828 views

Do police really care about drug dealers? [closed]

If we are to believe the statistics, a lot of young people take drugs or have "experimented in college" with or without inhaling. Now some of these people will end up in the police force tasked with ...
zooby's user avatar
  • 303
3 votes
2 answers
318 views

What prevents states and counties in the US from combining drivers license and registration data?

When stopped for a traffic infraction in the United States most (all?) officers ask for license and registration. They are legally allowed to demand this information on request as a condition of ...
Freiheit's user avatar
  • 239
5 votes
3 answers
311 views

Political distinction between Surveillance and Wiretapping?

In a recent comment Kdog alludes to: ...those guys that think electronic surveillance and wiretapping semantic differences are somehow important. In the US, is this distinction procedurally ...
agc's user avatar
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