The UK is also notoriously surveilled and their crime rate is right on-par with the US.
What type of crime though, the US has substantially higher rates of violent crimes and those are the ones personally I would rather not be the victim of.
Safer for who? Definitely not anyone critical of the Chinese dictator or regime. Definitely not the Uygher population.
Free society is more important than marginally safer streets.
Holy cum hoc ergo propter hoc, Batman!
imagine a world where cops did their jobs
I can, we're living in it.
Now imagine a world in which cops served the masses.