Photo via Flickr user Elvert Barnes

A version of this article originally appeared on VICE UK.

Americans have become so used to police misconduct and controversial shootings dominating the headlines lately that it's easy to forget that in some other countries it's extremely rare for the cops to shoot people. This difference is especially stark in the UK, which shares a language and a love of the same premium cable shows with the US. Though there are certainly controversies related to policing in the UK, the country's cops do not even normally carry guns, which naturally cuts down on the number of shootings and deaths.

To bridge this transatlantic divide, VICE UK's Joe Bish recently called up our US-based crime editor, Matt Taylor, and asked him to explain why law enforcement in America has become so controversial over the past few years.

Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York via.

VICE: OK, first off: Could you explain to me the difference between state police, sheriffs, federal police, etc?

Matt Taylor: At the most basic level, in terms of your interaction with them or how they appear to most Americans on the street, state police, and local cops or sheriffs aren't that different. They all carry guns and wear vaguely traditional police garb. Federal police aren't visible in the same way. There are various law enforcement entities at that level—US Marshals, FBI—but no "federal cops" per se.

Right. It kind of sounds like everyone has a gun. Does this apply throughout, from chiefs to detectives to beat cops?

Just about every cop in America seems to carry a gun. In the case of chiefs or higher-level officers like detectives, the gun and holster we see on beat cops might not be present or visible. For instance, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton—that job is actually a step up above "chief"—doesn't carry one, or at least not one we can see. His is more of a political role.

What's the wage gap between, say, a commissioner and a lowly street-based police officer? Is the disparity the source of any internal concern within the police force?

It's pretty substantial, but probably not as enormous as you might think. Certainly not on the same level as, say, the gap between low-level workers and CEOs at most American companies and corporations. Even regular beat cops can do well in certain locales. I grew up on eastern Long Island, in East Hampton, essentially a resort town, and getting a job as a cop out there is a ticket for life, from what I'm told. One can easily earn well above the median salary in the US thanks to a healthy local tax base, lots of valuable real estate, etc. Police unions are a powerful force in American politics, or at least they were. Their influence is fading, as is the case with most organized labor organizations in the United States.

But coming back to New York, it's not unusual to see the police union and other related groups sparring with the mayor over everything from money to civilian deaths.

In the UK the "us and them" divide between the police and public doesn't seem to be quite as extreme as in the US—depending on where you go, of course. There's obviously controversies, but they tend to get hushed up, whereas American police seem to scream and shout about how wronged they are. Do you think this is part of the overall sense of patriotism that's more prevalent in US society? As in, people who are protecting the great nation commanding more respect?

It probably is, yeah. As I think you're alluding to, we tend to love us some guns and the strong men who wield them in America. That sort of John Wayne mentality extends from a worship of the armed forces—even when they do terrible things to civilians and each other—and cops. The mantra is that white Americans love and respect cops—that they feel safe around them. Whereas blacks, Latinos, and other minorities have been trained by our culture to be leery.

Cops have become "others" in a new way over the last year or so, I think. Whereas in the 1990s and 2000s many police shootings—and there were many—of people of color stoked controversy, something about the killings that began last summer—with Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson—has touched a chord. You can probably go back to Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012 for the spark that got this uproar going, even though [his killer, George Zimmerman] wasn't an actual cop, just a rogue neighborhood watchman.

Well yes, I was going to say: This cop mentality seems to extend to everyone with even a vague sense of authority. Mall cops, security guards—everyone has mace or a gun or a Taser. Where does the weaponizing of the everyman come from, and why is everyone