[ljm]

It's not just Italy... the entirety of the European continent sets a great example, even acknowledging the corruption that still takes place.

The question to the US is: how can they become less insular and more open to ways of living that aren't strictly 'American'? You would think the constitution is now set in stone: societal progression is at a complete halt after committing to a few rules 200 or so years ago. And I know that sounds hyperbolic, but even in that time it's still the case that race is a fundamental issue in the US.

[trowawee]

It's honestly even worse than that in some ways, because we were still pretty actively adding to/changing the rules as recently as the late 1960s, and then we just kinda...stopped.

[mcny]

A little off-topic but I thought the meta was you are more likely to be beaten up/tortured by police while in custody in Europe/Asia as opposed to while in custody in the US? I have no experience in these things. Have I misunderstood this?

[chinesempire]

That's false as well.

Look at a Norway prison

Now take a look at an American one

[mcny]

> Look at a Norway prison

Thank you for the reply. Yes, I understand that Scandinavian countries do a lot of things better. I also understand that prisons are terrible in the US and jails are worse still.

However, from stories I've heard about "interrogation techniques"...

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=https:/...

My understanding is that it is unlawful to torture (physically, mentally, ...) into answering questions and/or confessing to any crime in the US and you have a right to remain silent (in theory at least) in police custody. How well is enforced in other countries?

From what I understand, local police (talking about custody, not jail or prison) in the US will sometimes use torture techniques like isolation or suicide watch and will beat suspects when they get a chance (moving between rooms or whatever) but this is uncommon.

[chinesempire]

It's enforced better than in the US, on many levels.

First, they can't really arrest you without motiv, they can't even detain you without motiv.

Second: you can confront a police officer in EU, they won't shoot you or handcuff you, unless you pose a real danger to public safety.

I had a fight with one of them three months ago, he almost ran over me with his bike and when I confronted him he removed his jacket and told he was a police officer. I said "you are two times wrong then" He yelled at me he was going to bring me in, I said "no way" and meanwhile people gathered around me and started saying to the police officer he was abusing his powers, that they had seen what he'd done with his bike and where ready to testify against him, if he didn't apologize.

He went away.

That's almost impossible in the US, where officers are trained to respond physically to basically anything that they consider a threat.

Stefano Cucchi is a very peculiar case he wasn't lawfully tortured, he was killed by the police and then they tried to cover it up.

I went to many events in support of his cause.

After years of trial the officers have been condemned and many high ranking officers asked for forgiveness to Stefano's sister, Ilaria, a great woman who stood alone against the injustice her brother faced.

But it's been a very popular case all over the news, for years, there have been a few others in Italy, but the point is it is unlawful and you can count them on the fingers of one hand.

The real problem in Italy is that it takes decades to get a final judgement.

And right now the right wing parties, that also support Trump, that wants free guns for everybody like in the US.

Anyway, torture is a crime in Italy and it is considerd an aggravating factor if it is committed by an officer.

[mcny]

> Anyway, torture is a crime in Italy and it is considerd an aggravating factor if it is committed by an officer.

Thank you. I appreciate your answering my questions and not assuming I am asking rhetorical questions (something I am not very good at yet). I didn't know about the case and saw it when I googled for any case.

> And right now the right wing parties, that also support Trump, that wants free guns for everybody like in the US.

I don't know for sure as I am not friends with many 45 supporters but my understanding is the "base" is more interested in guns for everyone more than 45 himself. Not that it matters in the larger scheme but just thought I'd share my understanding.

[chinesempire]

It's probably even worse than being insular

I don't blame the people of US, but their cultural system, I do.

Those who criticize or just reports things that don't work in the States are immediately flagged as anti American, it's like an instinct.

Their homicide stats are worse than many developing countries in Africa, four time worse than Canada, six times worse than China, ten times worse than Europe and Asia

Singapore's homicide rate is 30 times lower than in US!

It's really a lot

It's a failure, no matter how one frames it

But it's still very hard to get the general population to confront the numbers

They say you shouldn't shoot the messenger, but even on HN, where people are generally more educated than the average, it's really hard to start a conversation about the causes of this debacle

I lost 20 points of karma in two days because I showed stats about police brutality in US

I hope they'll get it one day, I live in Europe, my country has a lot of problems and there are many things that US does better and we looked at them for decades in search of a solution to our shortcomings

But if there's one thing we do well in EU is how our police handles critical situation, it varies from country to country of course and there are exceptions, Poland is not Spain, but in general it's true

So why not try to listen for once?

I don't have an answer honestly.