Cops

A few years ago when we lived in San Francisco, my wife and I went out for dinner in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. It's an older neighborhood, but nice and filled with tourists and restaurants, some good and some touristy. I saw two cops cross the street and approach a homeless man who was sleeping on the sidewalk in front of a restaurant window. One cop walked up and without saying a word, he kicked the homeless man in the head as hard as he could. Like something out of pro wrasslin, only it was a real kick. We were less than 10 feet away when this happened, and I can assure you the brutality was shocking.

In Fullerton California just a few weeks ago, a gang of men severely beat and killed a homeless man in his twenties. The man begged for his father to come help as he was beaten. There were witnesses and some video evidence of the beating, yet no one has been arrested or charged. The gang can be identified easily as they were wearing blue costumes with a shiny badge and each of them is employed by the Fullerton Police Department.

Just last week in Philadelphia, a nearly blind man was beaten severely by a gang of thugs as he was being helped across the street by his guardian. The man is in the hospital and a witness who lived across the street was tasered and arrested on his front porch, but none of the gangsters has been arrested or charged with a crime. They can easily be identified as they were wearing blue costumes with a shiny badge and each of them is employed by the Philadelphia Police Department.

In recent weeks, a homeless man was shot and killed by BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) police in San Francisco. The police claim he charged at them with a knife, but all of the non police witnesses say otherwise. The BART police is the same group responsible for the shooting murder of a man who was laying face down, unarmed, on the platform a few years ago.

Two weeks ago we were staying at a fairly nice business hotel near the train station in Niigata Japan. We departed the hotel around 7AM to catch an early train and during the 2 block walk we noticed a group of policemen standing around. It appeared as if 2 or 3 homeless (or maybe college age guys on vacation) had been sleeping in the doorway of a business. Their sleeping bags and personal items were scattered about. There were about 4 police, and the conversation was somewhat animated, especially for Japan. However, it was plain to see by the tone of voice and the body language of the police that they were trying to diffuse the situation. There was no command voice being used, no tasers, no guns, no threatening, no use or threat of force, no attempt at arrest. Just calmly trying to explain to they men that they had to gather their belongings and move on.

You can deny it if you want, but the truth is that America is an authoritarian police state. You can practically hear the jackboots coming in America. The police in America conduct and get away with violent beatings and killings on a frequent basis. Another blogger, Will Grigg, has made it a practice to keep a blog record of the police abuse. Check it out, but take your blood pressure medicine first.

Japan is not a police state, even though I am certain there are abuses. I have never heard any accounts of violent beatings or murders conducted by the police here. Another reason why Japan is better than America, far better.