[jajko]

One can't rely on some sort of 'decency' of a given country and hope for the best, that ship has long sailed.

You mention Sweden, I can easily also name Switzerland, the land of generally very decent, moral and polite people. Yet sometimes curtains falls off a bit and one can see how various police departments will do everything possible to track and follow people. Police are generally very nice but I've also seen some unprovoked brutality and generally less-than-stellar behavior by various authorities that should know and do better.

Protect what you can, while you can. No state is your friend, its not normally an outright enemy but rather a party focused on its own interests, your rights or needs be damned.

[lo_zamoyski]

> Police are generally very nice but I've also seen some unprovoked brutality

The so-called israelization[0] of the police. Certainly you see that in the US. If you compare the local police, say, 50 years ago with their counterparts today, you definitely notice a strong militarization. That may be appropriate for special units handling dangerous cases, but it should not characterize the rank and file that handle petty crime or public disorder.

> No state is your friend, its not normally an outright enemy but rather a party focused on its own interests

The state is the only recourse of the common man against powerful private interests. In this case (surveillance, etc), private interest has been used as a way to get around the legal limitations of government. Companies like Google and Facebook can track people with greater ease than the government can.

[0] https://www.amnestyusa.org/blog/with-whom-are-many-u-s-polic...

[octopoc]

I have in the past often advocated for more training for police, so I have to say this is an eye opener for sure. Thanks for posting this.

The question I have is, why?? I assume some Israelis or people with ties to Israel who wanted Israel to have influence over the US police. (But why?)

I doubt it was a big thing like “gee, you know what Israel can export? Police brutality!” “Hey that’s a great idea!”

But that’s kind of how it comes across.

[MSFT_Edging]

It's not that complex. Policing in general attracts certain kinds of people with a desire for authority. It should go without saying that it's not 100% of police officers joining.

Those with that fixation on authority want to maintain the authority. With various post 9/11 movements, the patriot act, tons of military spending, etc, there was both a desire for "security" as well as a lot of ex military gear going to police stations.

Israel just happens to be pros at violently suppressing groups of people, and just happen to be an ally and generally sorted into the "good guy" category. Additionally, Israel exports many "security" type goods and services, from cyber weapons, to traditional weapons. It only makes sense that Israeli physical security companies, where all of their employees have served under the IDF and received the training, would want to start a business offering said training.

So we have a police force who like their authority, are receiving ex-military gear to "protect" either themselves or the population at large, and are fed a constant stream of fearmongering about them being in constant danger. So they begin to act violently first as a means of defense. This creates a feedback loop where the police are seen as violent and corrupt, so criminals are more likely to try their hand at defending themselves or escaping, which makes the Police's job more dangerous.

So now their job is getting more dangerous because people can't trust that their lives wont be ruined by the luck of the draw, if they happen to get a shitty cop that's protected by the establishment. So the police want training to better protect themselves against this agitated populace. There just happens to be an ally known to export weapons and security products who offers training for subjugating a populace, and the police sign up.

[heavyset_go]

> The question I have is, why?? I assume some Israelis or people with ties to Israel who wanted Israel to have influence over the US police. (But why?)

The same reasons Nazis studied American segregation: they admired what they were able to accomplish and want to do something similar themselves.

[heavyset_go]

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_boomerang

[0points]

Yea, I started using ProtonVPN specifically because they are placed in Switzerland.

Switzerland is not in EU, not in 12-eyes, not in any of that shit.

I'm sure they are up to no good, too but at least the distance between them and NSA is farther, I hope.