This is the dystopian future that civil-liberty campaigners are most afraid of - a China-style mass-surveillance state.
This is so rich coming from the UK, the most CCTVed country in the world. Oh no, if we keep doing this insane-o shit we'll become almost as bad as the image we made up about bad country Jyna.
For context, Chinese cops are unarmed. This is fine because people in China don't have guns.
As a tangent, I got reminded of someone saying that the presence of 50 000 guns in China proves that gun control always fails, completely ignoring the fact that China has a population of 1 400 000 000. That is a rate of 0.000036 guns per person. In comparison, the USA has more guns than people.
The London met are unarmed I think, at least the normal people.
Australia doesn't have many guns and people that have them tend to be the most law abiding (even in terms of traffic offenses lmao) but our cops carry 3 torture implements, a glock, wear kevlar vests, and have a long gun in the car along with a few more torture implements.
It's fucking terrifying. No idea why they think they need all that, I immediately feel unsafe every time I see one because they're the only people armed with anything. Nobody even carries knives here, let alone pepper spray or guns.
Its hilarious when there's crazy knife guys in China cause theres a mancatcher pole in every public building so you'll see like random shopkeeps and security guards pin the guy to a wall with 6 polearms while a public security dude with a shield walks up to disarm. Once again proving pikes are the superior medieval weapon.
Honestly I wish our cops used mancatchers. They're so much more humane than pepperspray or tasers. you get a little bruised, held at arms length so no chance of escalation through confusion/wrestling/going for weapons etc, worst case you fall which is a given with a taser.
Like even if there's just confusion and the wrong person gets caught with one there's some embarrassment and brusing and then it's over. No lingering agony, no voided bowels, no chance of heart attack, no burns, no accidental blinding, no asthma attack etc etc.
I guess it's not intimidating enough for the absolute dropkicks that sign up to the police academy and you can't secure a multimillion dollar contract making them and selling consumables.
Thankfully, the crazy knife people are aware of the ramifications of starting an arms race, and would rather not have to face off against phalanxes of food stall vendors with increasingly long mancatchers.
What's something funny about Australia that isn't Simpsons derived or something casting aspersions on the chilled out and peaceful earthlings we share this silly island with?
Also, say, a pig actually uses a taser on a 95 year old lady with dementia in a nursing home and kills her, he immediately got charged with manslaughter and you see almost zero "back the blue" posts.
If you're talking about Senior Constable Kristian White he did not immediately get charged with manslaughter, although it was upgraded to that. He is currently suspended with pay iirc and awaiting being found not guilty in November.
Then again maybe he will be found guilty, the cops have royally pissed off the magistrate in charge of this case by redacting documents and faffing about.
Must have misremembered the turn of events. Even so, a manslaughter charge instead of no punishment and moving into the private sector is a pretty clear difference to American cops, like the one that ordered an innocent guy to crawl towards him with his feet crossed and also don't move, and executed him when he didn't do the conflicting instructions correctly
Australia is somewhat functional, the civil service does their best and our courts are okayish. Most of the people I've spoken to who commit atrocity in the name of the law feel trapped by it rather than enforce it with glee.
Most cops are unarmed in the UK. There's just a detachment of armed ones in the busiest hubs in central London, closer to the queen and houses of parliament and all that.
As someone said, London Metropolitan Police (responsible for the 32 boroughs) is unarmed, but within London there's 'City of London Police' for that specific area. They're the guns.
I've seen more armed military on a single day in Tian'anmen square that in a cumulated 10 days in London, I know hexbear is supposed to be satire but give me a break.