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by segf4ult 3687 days ago
And what country are you in where things like this don't happen?
4 comments

Well I can't speak for many countries but Irish police figures are slightly more flattering with 8 people shot by police in total over 15 years. http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/eight-fatally-shot-by-g...

This is mostly down to how your standard police don't have any firearms at all. So you could say things are at least a few places elsewhere a little different.

From Australia, live in Japan. Having a gun pointed at you by police would not happen in the situation described.
On the other hand, Japan's justice system has a 99% conviction rate. That doesn't happen without blatant, systemic corruption.

I'd rather deal with cops who might shoot me than cops who will definitely get a confession out of me if they want one.

USA has 93%. Both figures include plea bargains. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conviction_rate
AFAIK a big chunk of the 99% conviction rate is because police will not pursue a case that isn't easy open and shut.
It's very disturbing to me that there are any qualifiers that could make that statistic acceptable. It's like explaining the FISA court's approval rate.
Not very different from the US.

"For 2012, the US Department of Justice reported a 93% conviction rate." -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conviction_rate

In the US you can have your cake and eat it too: get shot by cops and have to plead guilty to avoid spending a huge chunk of your life in jail in favor of spending a slightly smaller chunk of your life in jail. America's the greatest country in the world (when it comes to injustice by the numbers).

   Not very different from the US.
It's extremely different. That 93% figure is limited to federal criminal cases. The vast majority of offenses are state and local. This same wikipedia article says, "In recent years, the conviction rate has averaged approximately 84% in Texas, 82% in California, 72% in New York, 67% in North Carolina, and 59% in Florida."

So, you're talking anywhere from (roughly) seven times as frequent acquittals to over 40 times as many.

"Not very different", you say?

No, they only try cases they can win.
They also get to basically torture you for 22 days without charges.
Instead they will just arrest you and torture you into confessing.
What countries do you expect things like this to happen so I can avoid them?
I would say that as an example, in most European countries the relationship between police and citizens is a lot more civilized. But them again this is my impression not sure if it's based on facts. I would sure consider this if I was planing to travel to the US.