Friday, August 11, 2006

Keystone Kops

I guess that people around the world all have different ideas about what makes a 'good cop'. Probably for most of us a good cop is one who protects the innocent and catches the bad guys. In North America people are becoming quite used to seeing examples of police brutality on TV. Stories of police corruption also seem to be more common these days. I'm not really sure how the average Japanese feels about the police here.
In the video below is the most shocking spectacle of bad police behaviour I have ever seen. North Americans in particular may not be able to believe what they are seeing. The following video is from a Japanese news broadcast and is in Japanese, so let me set it up a little (details in English here): a car has left the road and smashed into some sort of structure; rescue workers are trying to help the driver, who seems to be a bit unhinged; the driver seems to go a bit crazy and starts smashing up the inside of his car; the police arrive; the man gets out of his car and moves toward the police brandishing some sort of club... What follows will shock and astound you...



I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I first saw this...

6 comments:

  1. So they ran away and he stole their car? Ohhhhh my.

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  2. That's one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time!

    "Quick! He's got a stick! Run for your lives!"

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  3. Hi,
    I thought he was gonna get beat up...and i was thinking hmmm..that's not too surprising for N. Americans...

    hahaha...that's a more pragmatic course of events i'd say.

    reminds me of my friends used to work as a security guard in a really really crappy mall. Things were relatively quiet, then one day these kids come brandishing guns and start looting. The day the security guard is most needed, guess what he did? removed his uniform and calmly walked out.

    He was like "They gave me a walkie talkie and a club, the hell i was supposed to do with that?"

    it was too funny for words.

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  4. Maliha, if security guards are as poorly trained and underpaid in the US as they are in most places, I don't blame your friend one bit!
    I've personally seen a lot of situations involving police in Canada (just an 'innocent' bystander!), but I have never seen a police officer running away from a bad situation...

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  5. kyklops,

    The Japanese Police's cowardice recalls the reports of NOPD officers' dereliction of duty during the Katrina's aftermath.

    The situations are different in scope, but I wouldn't claim that, "I have never seen a police officer running away from a bad situation".

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  6. Phil,
    I take your point. It's just the image of a cop running away that's somewhat unsettling. From what I've heard/read about Katrina, it sounds like quite a contrast to the images and stories out of NY in 2001...

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