Indonesia In 2021, a police officer was recorded slamming student protesters in
Banten. In the same year, a woman named Novia Widyasari was found dead in front of her father's grave after she found out about her pregnancy in aftermath of the rape perpetrated by a police officer who was her boyfriend. The incident later raised the anti-police sentiment among the locals even further. The sentiment began to resurface after the
murder of Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat in 2022. The killing was ordered by Inspector General
Ferdy Sambo, his former boss. Police use of tear gas and incompetence in
Kanjuruhan Stadium disaster also fueled this sentiment. On 2024, a primary school teacher from
Konawe Regency,
Southeast Sulawesi was arrested for allegedly disciplining a student who happens to be a son of a local police officer and asked to pay 50 million Rupiah fines. The arrest prompted anger among Indonesian internet users, flaming another anti-police sentiment in Indonesia.
Ireland Anti-
Garda Síochána (Republic of Ireland police) sentiment is common among
Irish Travellers, a social group with high levels of poverty, unemployment and crime. Gardaí were also accused of
police brutality in the
Shell to Sea protests of 2006–2011, and anti-brutality protests took place in 2007. Anti-Garda sentiment is also common in
Dublin's north inner city, an area of high crime, deprivation and drug addiction. Local youths attacked Gardaí during the
2006 Dublin riots, sparked by a
Love Ulster protest. The
Kerry babies case of 1984 also sparked anti-Garda feeling in the area. The acronym AGAB, a variation on
ACAB, is sometimes used.
Poland In Poland, the abbreviation
CHWDP is used with the meaning of "a dick in the police's ass." It often appears as graffiti.
Sweden A
series of riots took place in
Sweden in April 2022 after Danish-born, right-wing activist
Rasmus Paludan attempted to hold a series of
Quran burning demonstrations in the country. Counterprotesters responded by attacking participants and engaging in
rioting, often getting into violent clashes with police.
National Police Commissioner Anders Thornberg said that, in some cases, protesters "tried to kill police."
United Kingdom that reads "Help the Police, beat yourself up." Contrary to its European neighbours,
England did not have a tradition of professional police forces. Crime prevention was carried out by a combination of the town watch and the parish constabulary appointed by the
justices of the peace in each county. In
Great Britain during the late 1790s, anti-police views were based on the possible encroachment of absolutism through professionalised law enforcement, the obstruction of the
magistrates' power and skepticism towards trusting an unfamiliar organisation.
United States In the 1950s, William Westley suggested that anti-police sentiment may come from the social stigma of working in dangerous conditions, having to work with stigmatized
others, and at times unethical practices. In the 1970s, police departments began to become concerned about litigation over
police misconduct. Distrust of police in the U.S. is sometimes mentioned in connection to
police brutality and
racial profiling. In 1991,
Rodney King, an African American man, was savagely beaten by four Los Angeles Police officers. The following year, the
1992 Los Angeles riots broke out in response to the acquittal of the police officers involved in the beating. This event brought large amounts of media attention to police brutality towards minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics. The 2014
shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the ensuing outrage is considered a turning point in the U.S. dialogue of the "war on cops" and feel that the "law is not on their side". The role of police in the restriction of youth freedom has also perpetuated anti-police sentiments among young people. During the
George Floyd protests and the
wave of racial unrest that followed, a surge in anti-police attacks was reported. According to a 2021
FBI statement, "103 ambush-style attacks on law enforcement officers [took place] this year, which was an increase of 115% from 2020, and resulted in 130 officers being shot. Thirty of those officers were killed." In April 2021, Canadian scholar
Temitope Oriola expressed concern tensions between police and African Americans could lead to an "anti-police
insurgency", drawing parallels to
the armed conflict that took place between 1950 and 1994 in
Apartheid South Africa. Oriola noted that the vast majority of anti-police brutality protests have been peaceful, and an insurgency in the United States would be far less violent than one in other countries. U.S. president
Donald Trump has on several occasions condemned the anti-police atmosphere.
Examples , 2014 • The shooting of unarmed African American
Michael Brown by a police officer in 2014 caused public outrage in the U.S. and a condemnation of law enforcement's
use of force against the marginalised. • The
2016 shooting of Dallas Police officers in Texas killed 5 officers. The shooting was conducted during an anti-police–brutality protest. • The
2017 St Louis Protests were a response to the police shooting of
Anthony Lamar Smith in 2011. Ten officers were injured during the violent protests. |alt= • The
2020 boogaloo murders, where members of the movement known as "Boogaloo Bois" murdered two police officers.
Media Smartphones, allowing people to capture real-time recordings of confrontations with police and spread them across the internet, have been mentioned in helping extend anti-police sentiment.
Examples •
Public Enemy – The late 1980s was a significant time for the hip-hop industry regarding the release of music that was explicit in its social commentary on the corrupt morality of authorities. As such, anti-police views began to be expressed by hip-hop groups such as
Public Enemy, who released
"Fight the Power" in 1989, holding a harsh mirror to the police force for them to recognise their racial prejudice. Thus, it became an "anthem for the kind of resistance that rap music had already begun to embrace". On the other hand, its reception with the African American community was powerful, as it "struck a nerve for many people, especially the marginalized communities. They wanted justice, too, but only in fictional songs like 'Fuck tha police' could they seem to find it". The lyrics were anti-police and the music video depicted power inversion. •
Rage Against the Machine – R.A.T.M.'s signature 1992 song, "
Killing in the Name", makes numerous references to police brutality, corruption, and
institutional racism. The line "Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses" references the phenomenon of some law enforcement officers also being members of the
Ku Klux Klan and other
white supremacist hate groups in the United States.
U.S. police response Police have expressed feeling threatened by violent protesters and attackers, and a dissatisfaction with a larger gap between police and the community. Some have blamed media for fueling anti-police sentiment. Chuck Cantury Howard Safir identified "a war on police" in his letter to President
Barack Obama. Former
FBI director
James Comey addressed in 2015 by positing that "a chill wind [is] blowing through American law enforcement over the last year… and that wind is surely changing behavior". Academics have theorized that "
de-policing" may be seen in America as a response to police dissatisfaction in some areas. == See also ==