Nice thought, but what about Columbine, VA Tech, etc.? We have plenty of incidents over here where cops will choose the path of least risk. I remember watching in San Francisco a police officer harrassing a mexican ice cream vendor about his permits and his lack of English speaking skills, while all around us were drug dealers practicing their craft.

That is sadly typical of San Francisco police, in my experience of them. Usually polite, but not that interested in taking risk.

A major difference in what I’ve seen v. your correspondent is that in the States, the police (and firemen and even paramedics) are happy to jump into a situation, and my co-workers and I all did our best to keep the fuzz on our side.

I’ve watched cops jump into semi-riots with chairs flying past their heads, and been called to a scene to help by an officer that recognized me from work.

While it may be a cultural difference, I have never seen cops on this side of the pond shy way from or neglect to get involved in a violent situation, with a primary purpose of starting the wheels of justice working upon the ‘alleged’ criminals immediately.

The police are not interested in preventing crime like that – their business is the recording of crime and making arrests. If they can arrest someone without breaking a sweat or running the risk of having to get physical with someone who may fight back then why would they bother with the difficult stuff?

Also: where did these words come from? That’s not clear either.

Sorry to be a pain.