re: Teen in Georgia killed, officer related shooting

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i think there are undoubtedly cities in the USA which are far more dangerous than cities in the UK. but we also have a ton of small towns with very low crime rates.

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Police in the UK can also issue a 'caution.' That means that if you or I commit a crime in the UK (and cautions cover a LOT of crimes), the officer has reason to believe a court would find us guilty and we admit our guilt we can avoid the courts altogether and receive a 'caution.' A caution stays on your record in case you re-offend but you aren't punished beyond that. In the US, cops can issue a warning but it's not like it means anything.

So if you and I are out drunk, disorderly, even pelting other fans with rocks or ice/or brawling after a game etc. a cop in the UK can give us caution and that caution will go into the crime stats whereas in the US that cop has to decide whether or not it's worth arresting us and taking us to jail for drunk, disorderly and assaulting all those people we pelted/shoved/fought with and most of the time it's not (hell a lot of times the traffic is too impossible to get through and their not able to leave their post to take us to jail unless it's something major).

Also small towns give rise to unique situations without the ability to issue cautions... In my town, some dude was drunk in the parking lot. No one saw him drive but he was behind the wheel and singing George Jones songs as it was back when "The Possum" died. Now in many places they'd have arrested him but the police force is small as is the jail so the police called his family to come get him. In the UK he'd have received a caution and that caution would be recorded.