openpolitics.com

Originally Answered: Why is the police in the US so brutal and aggressive?

1. They’re not well trained. In many places, police may only have a couple of months of training before they’re given a badge. One of the big problems is that there are nearly 18,000 different police forces in the United States. The UK has 48.
2. U.S. gun laws mean that when a police officer confronts a civilian, they’re likely to be armed or have arms nearby. It’s actually more dangerous when someone is driving or in their home, both of which are likely to have weapons.
3. Police forces often antagonize the civilians they’re serving and are seen by many communities as “trouble”. That makes civilians fearful, panicky, disrespectful and/or aggressive, none of which helps in a police encounter. Not having earned the respect of the community, they often have to demand it.
4. Police are often given counter-productive quotas or goals which they have to meet to either keep their jobs or get promotion. That includes writing as many tickets as possible (often to increase municipal revenue) or making arrests. Let’s put it this way – in the US an officer is unlikely to get any kind of praise for not arresting anyone during a month even though that’s the norm in other countries.
5. Many people with aggression issues or racist tendencies want to become police officers. In fact, it’s been shown that white supremacist groups in the U.S. encourage their members to join law enforcement. Use of things like steroids tends to be higher with police officers, and they’re encouraged to “stay in shape”.
6. It’s pretty much impossible to get rid of a bad cop. Even if a cop is fired, they usually just wind up on a smaller force. It’s easier than trying to keep them from working as a cop altogether.