yes, people here really are that violent. First off, consider that we have cities that have larger populations than many European countries. The US, in terms of population size is closer to the entire EU (350 million to 450, respectively) and it poses some… unique challenges. Secondly look at population adjusted murder rates. Yup. We feature prominently on that list, too.
It’s. Not appropriate to paint everyone with that brush. But even if it’s only 1% that are violent… that’s still a fairly large amount of violent people to be dealing with, and most of the time, cops are dealing with people suspected of anything ranging from jay walking to mass murder.
Even in places like the UK, if cops can justify it they will cuff you. And, no, you don’t have to be violent to for them to justify it. (And it’s not terribly difficult for them to do so. Sometimes that can be less of a factual obligation and more paperwork often cover-your-ass sort,
Generally, it’s best to cuff before the search, the process of cuffing generally places you in a dominant position and better able to respond to aggressive actions. Searching… not so much. (Imagine checking some one’s boot and where your head is when you find that weapon.) M