What aspect of American society makes the police so self-righteous?

Question

And why does this not happen in all societies? The French cops are so nice. Italians so relaxed.

Why are American cops like this?

Answer 1

In regards to our society, we are structured as a representative democracy, so we have placed our rights into the hands of our elected officials, therefore, it is actually very difficult to call the state to task concerning how they treat citizens.  In the Constitution, "We the People", did not mean all the people, it meant the elite, wealthy, and white people at the time, in place of "the monarchy".  Whether someone agrees or disagrees with Noam Chomsky, he is correct in calling our government a "polyarchy", not ruled by one king, but by many kings.

With that understanding, police work has dramatically been given more power since 1971, when the War on Drugs started and States started to incarcerate offenders for drug crimes.  When Ronald Reagan then declared "The War on Drugs" in the '80's, police work took on a new form.  Police Work had been very reactive up to that point, but now it became pro-active.  

Individualism also contributes, because of the training of the police.  Most are not trained well enough to understand the intricacies involved in human interactions, especially conflict.  There are numerous factors, but it can change, hopefully.

Answer 2

Your viewpoint of our police as self-righteous is purely subjective.  The aspect of American society our police ideally adhere to is called The Constitution.  

Answer 3

Aw, poor baby, did you get pulled over by a cop recently and did he talk mean to you?  Here's a tip for you: get over it, you were probably acting like a jerk and the cop set you straight.  Deal with it.

Answer 4

And you base this on what? We as Officers are no different than any other person. But we have a unique job that puts us in authority.

I don't really like to take issue with those who present themselves as Police Officers but in Matt's case I have to make an exception. I'm glad you enjoy working in the supposed "Low gun"  paradise of Australia. But the "Facts" you present in trying to make a correlation to Police Officer deaths and the rights that US citizens have to own firearms is, well, a flat out lie!

"400 deaths"? In 2007 there were 186 line of duty deaths. It was higher than it was in the past, but the peak was in 1974 with about 246 deaths. Most were because of traffic accidents not gunfire. Get your facts straight!      

Answer 5

They hire uneducated rednecks and street thugs to be cops.Most people in the USA have seen a lot of violence and they don't lose that mentality when they get hired on.All you need to be a cop is a GED and a driver's license.It takes more education to be a plumber than to be a cop.

Answer 6

Have you seen some of the dopes we deal with?  And by the way, we are not France or Italy. We tend to win our wars.  

Answer 7

The deep voices

Answer 8

there are many reasons; firstly far to many guns and offenders prepard to use violence. too many police are dying every day; over 400 police are killed every year on duty in the US.

I'm surprised you can find anyone prepared to put up with the amount of c**p that US law enforcement do.

I'm glad I work as a cop in Australia, everyone is just a little more chilled out.