I'll throw South Africa into the ring, our police are so bad that we have a huge private security industry, they are also insanely corrupt generally speaking.
I think the majority of the patrol cops, the guys on the street are pretty good, actually. Sometimes they can get frustrated with having to keep to the rules when they see criminals doing stuff which should be punished far more seriously than it is. And they are fighting a losing battle, with crime escalating all the time and them being more and more limited by the laws and regulations. It's not fair on them and they get blamed for not being able to reduce the crime.
Criminals don't get much incentive to stop, crime does pay there. If the choice is living on the street and begging, or stealing to get enough to eat and the "punishment" is that you go to a nice warm prison with free food and roof over your head, it's not hard to see why people turn to crime.
There is also a lot of corruption, though, but usually only at higher levels, in my limited knowledge. My brother has worked as a police reservist in the Gauteng area.
SA needs the Scorpions reinstated and given freedom to investigate anyone again. It's very telling that Zuma got them disbanded when they were investigating him. He's really bad for the country and I wish more people would understand that. Hoping that Mandela being in the public conciousness again makes people compare him to Zuma and wake up. SA needs better leadership, who can start to fix the education and justice systems properly.
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
"No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated."
"Unlike some politicians, I can admit to a mistake."
"Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves."
- Nelson Mandela
Sorry for the wall of text, but I feel quite strongly about this subject.
As a norwegian I find it hard to understand why so many people seem to hate the police where they live.
Nothing but respect for our police force and I believe most norwegians would agree with me.
I find the same here in Finland. You do get the odd rebelious "youth" badmouthing them, but it's rare, and usually for no reason other than being "badass".
