Vietnam. Police state.?

Check out the cop action now with Trumps meeting with Mr North Korea 😬 As a child of the 60's and fan of Vietnam they are fairly cool in general. Don't cross them though are you will find yourself in deep shit.

Thanks for the quick answer.  Mainland U.S. police are out of control. I am looking for a little more relaxed police presents.

They are not peace officers here in the U.S. like when I was growing up.  Excess force with an attitude of shoot first;ask questions later.

Many countries in the world have problematic police force which cannot be described with a sound bite. 

Many Americans probably disagree with your view that American police are "out of control, excess force with an attitude of shoot first, ask questions later."  Similarly, many people who live in Vietnam may disagree with the view that Vietnamese police have a relaxed attitude.  Not if you're involved in drugs, political action or opinion against the government, sexual assault, sensitive photography, violating cyber security law, etc.  Swift and severe consequences are the normal result of those infractions.

Daneb51 wrote:

Mainland U.S. police are out of control. I am looking for a little more relaxed police presence.

You can generalize about ALL US police if you need to do that.

But the US has a better justice system. Lawyers, judges, advocacy groups, free press, are all pretty transparent and there is a certain amount of accountability. Not so in the third world. For example, we see crimes and accidents reported on newspaper websites and Facebook, but there is never any follow up, rarely we find out what happens to crooks unless they are high level officials. Was there a trial? What was the sentence? What about the victim? Stuff is not reported. Black hole of news.

If that sounds scary, maybe you can find a friendlier town in the states.

Wait until your first shakedown, it won't take long. Then tell us how bad the cops are in The States. You think you're a target there, here you're a potential target for everyone.

Money talks here - as long as you're not doing anything outlandishly illegal, you're fine

"I am a child of the 60's. "

Not sure what that means?  Does it mean you want free love and LSD?

Vietnam is actually a very free country compared to many others.  The laws and regulations here are pretty lax but just don't do 3 things:

1. Don't do drugs of any kind, not even weed.
2. Don't have strong opinions about politics.
3. Don't ever say anything bad about Ho Chi Minh. (especially if you are living in North Vietnam.)

The police here are very  laid back so long as your not causing a problem . To be honest you don't see a lot of them , there is not the crime rate that there is back in the UK , that's for sure . 
I'm a 50s child ,,, what does that mean ,,,, it means I'm old I guess .

As some have said already, Vietnam is actually very safe. No violent crime on the streets (they're extremely strict about that, and certainly no weapons of any kind), but you may want to guard against bag-snatching in major cities, and flaunting your iPhone on the sidewalk. I'm not sure what the story is if you're Black, but I hazard a guess that there are so few Blacks, they're not sure how to react.

The normal police are generally helpful. The yellow traffic cops will pull up anyone for anything they think they can get 200k dong out of (even if it's unfair) before Tet and other big holidays. The armed black cops are bad news. But foreigners still tend to get helpful treatment if they're polite.

Don't think you can get away with speaking French or Spanish, the yellow cop could well have a translation app on his iPhone. Icelandic might do it :-)

Rob

Daneb51 wrote:

Thanks for the quick answer.  Mainland U.S. police are out of control. I am looking for a little more relaxed police presents.

They are not peace officers here in the U.S. like when I was growing up.  Excess force with an attitude of shoot first;ask questions later.

I'm from the US and been VN many times.....your reason for wanting to leave the states based on “police force” is a bit political and subjective to where you are living. Maybe find a safer neighborhood in the states. The political climate in general in the US has gotten obscene and think fuels a lot of the hatred now seen more and more.

While for me and my Vietnamese wife, our plan is to retire to VN...mainly because her family is there and secondary I actually enjoy VN living. I will say it's not for everyone. I was recently in VN for 4 months and this was not a vacation but rather to take care of some personal things. In those 4 months, I started to understand a bit more how things work. There are pros and cons to everything. You really need to spend some time researching VN to see if it's right for you and maybe vacation there for a few weeks.

Things to consider living in VN
1) healthcare
2) food (VN food is what you will mostly eat)
3) transportation (I have the Grab app and I rented a motorbike as I got my motorbike license when I was there...taking a grab became too expensive all the time)
4) weather (if you decide to live in HCMC, be prepared to get your sweat on)
5) housing
6) language barrier (about 8 to 10% Vietnamese speak English...they work in hotels and in some restaurants)
I can go on and on about some of the things to consider. I personally enjoyed my experience. My first week there as I was riding a motorbike back from the supermarket, a Viet guy purposely cut in front of me causing me to lay the bike down. Lucky for me I wasn't driving to fast and I landed on my right arm to break the fall. I was bleeding like a sieve and thought maybe I broke my arm. Then I started to think what the heck hospital I go to and how much this will cost. I went back to my rented apartment and waited it out a couple of days and determined myself I had a hairline fracture and a huge swollen arm. The pain was tolerable so I didn't think I needed emergency care and 2 months later I was fine but that experience lead me to be extra cautious in everything I did. International hospitals are expensive as heck.
Now I never did experience any problem with the police but that's because I minded my own business and never cause any problems. But my wife has told me that in a lot of situations police don't care unless it's something already mentioned like drugs or political activism or something. My wife had her motorbike stolen and I said call the police and report it and she laughed. She also had her phone stolen from her purse and we know who did it and I said call the police and she laughed. I'm not going to say anything more about that but you really need to check your motives before thinking VN is candy land compared to the US.

Every Viet I befriended while I was there when they learned  I was American told me “America is number one” while I just smiled and thought to myself that is debatable but the sentiment is that a lot of Viet people want to come to the US.

I lived in Da Nang for two years and found police officers to be friendly and helpful. Just stay out of politics and criminal activity and you'll be fine. They don't generally mess with foreigners unless you're drunk and disorderly. If you get pulled over on the road, come up with a couple hundred thousand dong-about nine bucks-and you'll be on your way. In two years, my only contact was a warm greeting.

Oh, and there are bars where weed is consumed openly without consequences. Just be smart and polite.

... How vigorous are the police?
Has nothing to do with Absurdland. see below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQq4okYH45I

Generally, they (the polices) would leave you along especially if you are a foreigner.  Here they don't carry gun but baton.  They don't use force first unless you resisted.  If you have to use motorbike for general thing like go around town short distance then buy one that will not require a license (electric bike, 50cc).
           I agreed with you about the police statement in the US especially if you brown or black.  Me my self as an Asian I've never encountered any negative experiences with the police in the US but have read and saw too many unnecessary use of forces on TV and newspaper reports to make my own judgement.
           If you decide to retire in VN and in good health, cities like Can Tho, Da Nang , Ben Tre , etc are nice to live and cheap.  Don't show yourself as rich American then you ask for trouble.
           Good lucks

I wouldn't consider Vietnam to be a police state...   though I've only been to Da Nang and Hoi An. The police presence is more visible than in the US, but I've never seen anything that could be construed as abuse - and my Vietnamese wife has never seen anything outrageous.For the most part they seem to be laid back - I doubt you will have any problems as long as you follow what most here have already said.

The police in the US - for the most part - are good. But there are MANY who certainly do abuse their power and should NOT be police officers. And there are many "good" officers who simply look the other way. The BLUE LINE is real and clearly evident. And this is especially true for those who are non-white.

You will probably find Vietnam a very pleasant country - if you're law abiding, then IMO you have nothing to worry about at all.

... How vigorous are the police?
Has nothing to do with Absurdland. see below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQq4okYH45I

gobot wrote:

You can generalize about ALL US police if you need to do that.

But the US has a better justice system.

IF you can afford it. Otherwise, it's a crap shoot. The justice system in the US is skewed to the wealthy. Fact, not fiction.

Foreigners have very little problems with Vietnamese police, the road police are very active and this mainly affects locals,

If you are black in America, they developed 6th sense to survive. Yes, cop in America is getting worst especially the liberal gun law states, mainly the South and the South-West. They executed you because "I am afraid for my life" , dame go get another line of work. Look on line, news, how blacks been treated by cops. the bigger the city the worst they got treated. Here is the story from my black co-worker. Cop stopped his car, T informed cop he had concealed permit, gun in the glove box. Cop asked him to take it out for him to inspect it. T said it is opened, you retrieve and inspect yourself. If T touch that gun, he would be history. The cop set him up to kill him. This is first time he encountered this cop, and T is "normally" dress and appearance.

I have lot respect for cop, but I do not care to know, associate, or talk to them.

I worked in Singapore for a short time, it was funny when I think Vietnam is free-er than controlled state Singapore. On Youtube, cop and people got into fist flight and literally when the fight was over- it is OVER. Being Westerners, usually treated well by cops, just avoid the lists being mentioned by many people.  Wish you find peace in your retirement in Vietnam

A lot of good advice above.
As places go, the police will ignore you, except as already noted.
I got a motorbike, 125 cc, a month after my arrival and it's not a problem.

I never bothered to get my license translated.
Language is an issue. Outside downtown SaiGon, few speak English.

When I was first back in Việt Nam  14 years ago and was the only foreigner in town  the police used to follow me around when I went walking and were strict about me registering whenever I went somewhere else. Now  I go where I want and do not encounter them.  They have never been a problem. In VN the police are a part of the army and there is no Officer Friendly but they are professional. Just follow the rules.

You're not alone   My son was at the age of 27 was shot and killed in his mothers home. He had mental illness and was physically disabled
Yeah the aluminum team please please please be used in a threatening manner

I lived in Arizona for years. Police were shooting Mexicans when I was there. Wild Wild West.

So what you're a piece officer

Megalodon. Sounds appropriate for a shark.

I feel much more freedom in Vietnam than back in the states.  There isn't much racial tension here since is it pretty homogeneous and it's not politically correct.  Back home, cameras and facial recognition are everywhere.  It's 8 am right now and I am sitting in the middle of the sidewalk eating my banh mi with a beer, dressed like a bum and no one gives a $hit.

Daneb51 wrote:

Megalodon. Sounds appropriate for a shark.

SUPER shark.