• Alfredolin@sopuli.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    19
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    I just checked, in Helsinki, Finland (my instance’s location), 25% of the city budget (~1,25B€) would cover the police expense for entire country and more (~900M€).

    Here police is managed by the state but I tried to make things comparable. And I don’t believe the police is extremely underfunded there. Is the US police driving tanks or wtf?

      • NiHaDuncan@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        7
        ·
        edit-2
        2 days ago

        That’s an M113 (variant), an APC (armoured personnel carrier) is nowhere near a tank.

        • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          14
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          2 days ago

          That’s a distinction without importance.

          What’s important is that it’s military hardware that they don’t need and which reinforces their toxic mindset of being at war against certain neighborhoods, ethnicities, income brackets, and political ideologies.

          • stickyprimer@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            2 days ago

            The importance is in the mind of the person who knows more about armaments and wants to flex that on other people. This happens nonstop in gun control debates, as if you need the technical knowledge of a gunsmith to debate the regulation of lethal force.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      2 days ago

      Urban police have a fuck ton of high tech equipment, high pay, and unlimited overtime (because the cities politically can’t stop them from taking it). They also have frequent legal costs because they keep violating citizens’ rights.