Re: Addendum
This may seem like a contentious response, but it is not.
Regarding this:
" . . . . a teenager to be shot and killed by police because his car was mistaken for one used as a getaway car by armed bank robbers."
would you please provide more than one recent example, to support your assertion that such a case would be viewed -anywhere in the US - as "unremarkable"?
As to this - "law-enforcement hell" - it is a fine example of exactly what I mean. What "hell" was that? The whole basis of this statement appears to be that she spent some time behind bars and jail is not a very nice place to be. The description of "law-enforcement hell" is entirely predicated on a premise that she did nothing wrong and that everything that happened to her was completely unjustified. See what I mean?
Earlier in this thread, I mentioned the case of a non-resident arrested for speeding on the M1 who was banged up in Milton Keynes Central for four hours while the boys in blue figured out what to do with him. True case, for I was that unfortunate. Was it a nice place to be? No, it bloody well wasn't! Was the company what I would have liked it to be? No, it bloody well wasn't! Was it "law enforcement hell"? Not hardly.
Regarding different cultural responses to the incident which started this whole thread, I think you are right about the differences but not about the reasons. The tone of the UK press coverage and the response of her MP was completely uncritical. Her assertions were taken at face value, and one may see the immediate response generated among some UK participants, along the lines of "well, of course, those bloody Yanks, no manners at all, they always go over the top . . . " and so on and so forth.
You may note that US participants are generally more cautious - some might say cynical - about taking her assertions at face value. There's two sides to every story. There certainly isn't enough known yet to make the sorts of broad and sweeping generalization which is the title of this thread.
llater,
llamas