First, policing is more dangerous in the United States because of the NRA's " guns everywhere" fetish, since any encounter with a civilian might ignite a firefight.
Second, police recruitment suffers from adverse selection. Three undesirable personal qualities water prominent in this attracted to police work. One set of individuals are bullies. They are drawn to a profession where they can boss people around. The next group is authoritarians whose are comfortable in the strongly heirachical environment of police forces. They seek to impose more heirarchy on society generally. Finally, and most potently, racists are disproportionally drawn to police work. The 1619 project does a good job of discing the origins of American policing in the antebellum patrols.
Two observations:
First, policing is more dangerous in the United States because of the NRA's " guns everywhere" fetish, since any encounter with a civilian might ignite a firefight.
Second, police recruitment suffers from adverse selection. Three undesirable personal qualities water prominent in this attracted to police work. One set of individuals are bullies. They are drawn to a profession where they can boss people around. The next group is authoritarians whose are comfortable in the strongly heirachical environment of police forces. They seek to impose more heirarchy on society generally. Finally, and most potently, racists are disproportionally drawn to police work. The 1619 project does a good job of discing the origins of American policing in the antebellum patrols.