alt Hacker NewsI have long said, and I will stand behind, that by and large the % of police which are assholes is about the same as the % of the overall population who are assholes.
The only difference is that a random asshole on the street can't really do anything to me, I can just walk away.
A random asshole cop has a crazy amount of discretionary power over me, even without him stepping outside departmental procedures or the law.
I don’t expect that’s true. I think there is a self-selection for certain personality types (authoritarianism, thrill seeking, military cosplay fantasies, etc.) that make cops more abusive overall than the general population. By what percentage I can’t say.
Edit: seems this is partially true for personality but this study shows a correlation with holding more right wing views. (college students who expected to pursue law enforcement careers) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40768353/