I agree completely with both of Adam's comments. You could argue that we have become more reliant on electronic systems replacing human/mechanical systems. As an example. In a shop, a cash register in the 1970s may have been entirely mechanical and of course taken cash. Contrast nowadays with a contactless internet linked payment system.
Another example may be getting money from a bank. In earlier days there would have been a 'passbook' that the teller would have amended (I suspect this would have been backed with an electronic system somewhere) then got the money out of the cash drawer, and now getting cash from an electronic ATM.
Apparently it is the 10th anniversary of the England riots this month. I was on holiday in the US at the time and it was widely reported on the TV news over there with the commentators' incredulity implied that in the US the rioters would have been shot dead in short order.
My brother is in the police and was (maybe still is) allowed to travel for free on the Nottingham Tram system on production of his ID card but elects to pay and travel anonymously as the hassle of being called in to throw off fare dodgers became too much. Seems to me in the UK police service is overstretched and probably a bit outnumbered as well. In the US I would think it is a brave, even suicidal person that assaults a police officer. In the UK it is commonplace.
Assaults on UK police officers.
Assaults on police officers are sadly commonplace. Our latest welfare survey data suggests there were more than two million unarmed physical assaults on officers over 12 months, and a further 302,842 assaults using a deadly weapon during the same period. These figures estimate that an assault on a police officer happens every four minutes.
Assaults on US police officers. I am only permitted to put two links per post but it was from the FBI website.
In 2019, the FBI collected assault data from 9,457 law enforcement agencies that employed 475,848 officers. These officers provided service to more than 219.8 million people, or 67.0 percent of the nation’s population. (See Table 80.)
Law enforcement agencies reported that 56,034 officers were assaulted while performing their duties in 2019. (See Table 80.)
However,
at this site...
During the 20th century, 585 police officers in New York and 160 police officers in London died while participating in law enforcement activities. New York had markedly greater intentional police mortality rates compared to London throughout most of the 20th century, but these differences decreased significantly by the end of the century. Intentional gunshot wounds comprised 290 police deaths in New York, but only 14 police deaths in London.
