Small town cops would literally get shot if they behaved the way NYPD officers behave towards citizens. Their accrual of power depends on being nice to the 30,000 people in the town. In turn, they get away with a lot of bad stuff.
The NYPD also needs to be nice to about 30,000 people to accrue power too, but that is wielded against a city of 40 million, with industrial scale.
Nope. Look at the "Ending the Criminalization of Poverty" section of https://civilrightscorps.org/our-work/. It's full of successful lawsuits against small town police departments that turned around 40% of the population into a cash cow they ruthlessly exploited for unconstitutional fines and fees.
If anyone shot the cops the entire system would rush resources in and teach them a lesson. This is why the idea the second amendment protects against tyranny is silly.
> Their accrual of power depends on being nice to the 30,000 people in the town
No it doesn't. Small town cops get their power from their lack of having anything to do and the blind support of the community.
The small town I grew up in had a cop murder four people because he broke chase policy and even left his jurisdiction. The town newspaper wrote a weeks worth of articles talking about what a great guy he was and how all the youths in the town loved him.
Don't piss off a small town cop. They have literally nothing to do and can/will pull you over every single time they see you.
Edit* I have to edit this due to this forums anti-discussion features
Sorry, most police departments have rules about how far/fast you can chase someone in a vehicle who is fleeing. They have these in place so cowboy cops don't engage in dangerous behavior for low value.
This cowboy pulled into a cul-de-sac and some kids who had some weed on them got spooked a pulled out. He started to chase them, it turned into a high-speed chase on rural roads. They flew through a stop sign and t-boned a car with four people inside of it. Killed them all. Over some weed.
That's why the policies exist in the first place, he violated it, and four people paid the price.
One of the local cops around here got the Dick Cheney special at about "across the room" range a couple years back.
Of course the guy that shot him got railroaded but they never did tell the public what he and the guy with them were doing on that guy's property two towns out of their jurisdiction without a warrant...
I can see why the cop was feeling cockey though. This state has just about the lowest rate of firearms ownership in the country. They're not used to getting shot back at.
I suspect that the difference in views is at least partially related to location - pclmulqdq sound's like something that I've heard from people in the Appalachians before, while your experience very much matches what I've observed in small town TX.
No actual data to back this suspicion of course, it's just anecdotal based on what I've seen and heard. Would be interested in data if anyone can provide it.
I have to give it to you, you're sticking to your preconceived notions. However, that's not a good trait with the preponderance of evidence against your notion. Maybe you're not from a smaller community to be able to understand how much control someone can actually have. Whether it is the local law enforcement, a coach, or a minister, history is full of examples where smaller communities have been kowtowed to those in positions of authority. To me, it's even easier as the smaller community doesn't have the numbers to support each other to fight against the oppressor. There's a reason there are so so many 80s films where the out of town tough guy comes in to rescue the local community.
I have a friend who lives in Republic, WA - if you're not from hereabouts, you might have heard about that place from national news in the context of Loren Culp. She's an old leftie from the bygone era (used to be active in anti-war movement during Vietnam etc) and her politics are not exactly a secret there. At some point, one of her neighbors placed signs on their property saying things like "liberals and communists not welcome", "get out while you can" etc, angled specifically towards her driveway. The local cops - then still under Culp - not only didn't see any problem with that, but they actually told her it's good neighborly advice.
The NYPD also needs to be nice to about 30,000 people to accrue power too, but that is wielded against a city of 40 million, with industrial scale.