The US as depictured here more straightforward wrong than I thoughy. Portugal not really surprising, and no-one here posting from Spain, but Spain for me un-surprising.
It's in Spain not I think so much directly from Franco-fascist history, but something like: culture=>subculture police/army => usefull for fascism=>fascism <fall-Franco> =>subculture police.
I can't really talk about present-day Spain, I don't have any inside information on the situation with the police there. But I can add one thing about the situation here: some groups in the police hare having a problem with racist, it's noticeable. And it's not something old, it came up over the past 20 years or so. The first generation of african immigrants were mistreated as all new people without a support network are, and tented to join together in some neighborhoods. The second generation was infected with
US-exported media and decided to ape some of the america "black culture" dysfunctions, which
did not endear it to the local population (clash of cultures, it is a thing). But that was not a deep, structural thing, it wore off. There's kind of second wave of that going on now, but it too will prove weak I think. Mostly they are "integrated", except for the poorer neighborhoods. There a culture of victimization, supported by "anti-racism" organizations, and a culture of racism within the local police,
fed each other. The dynamic of the thing is obvious for anyone observing closely! Watching this, the vicious circle of it, was the one thing that years ago made me so dead-set against "identity politics": I've watched them being divisive and destructive, making it much mode difficult to manage and solve the real problems of poverty and class discrimination.
The police does have a sub-culture (in fact split into several sub-cultures). Interesting that you notice it also in the Netherlands, I guess it's one of those things that always arise within some professional groups. Here there is this problem with what I can describe as
personal casual-racist attitudes (fortunately it never became institutionalized), but I'm optimistic that it will slowly fade away. The actual problem to solve is ending the remaining poor neighborhoods. When the troublesome (in terms of police work) informal economy there is reduced and/or the population is more mixed, these troublesome associations of ideas simply disappear.
I'll hazard a guess that class discrimination and poverty is
the big problem in the US and other countries (Brazil certainly!), preventing progress in other areas.