I’m seeing all these articles about overseas Chinese police stations and :cracker: s are acting as if they uncovered underground Fallout-style spy rings or something. Does anyone know what they are actually for? I’m assuming they’re just there to work alongside the local police departments like they have in various African nations.

  • KoboldKomrade [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Nominally, the same reason for the Chinese police stations. To "serve" citizens from NY/China in the foreign local. Basically embassies but with guns and shit. America (and most nations) also enforce their own laws on their own citizens in certain cases when the "crime" occurs outside of the nation. Its good for certain crimes (sex crimes), but also can be super arbitrary of course. Basically, the NYPD has some cop in London to arrest Jerry American for spilling coffee in the tea shop.

    In reality its power projection, intruding upon local enforcement, scaring locals, and enabling spying.

    • 7bicycles [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Yeah but why the NYPD?

      The US has an array of agencies that I could reasonably see the case to do police stations in foreign countries given the framework. But the fucking NYPD? What, on an administrative level, makes them so special? Is the only thing between my hometown having a Sheboygan PD station that no one can be arsed to go for it?

      • Diogenes_Barrel [love/loves]
        ·
        2 years ago

        new york is by a long margin the most important city in america with the oldest, most institutionally established police & city government. literally more personnel than whole country's militaries

      • emizeko [they/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        What, on an administrative level, makes them so special?

        a huge budget