I mean, it think it’s the wrong question. I think the question is, what can we do to minimize the need for police? The problem there is it usually involves lifting up poorer communities and no one wants to supply these communities with the resources to do it.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I’m a socialist activist in Oakland (home of the original Black Panters!), and I gotta tell you, this is where the rubber really meets the road.
First, Oakland knows what’s up. This is a very politically aware town, with some moderate but genuine leftists in government. We do a lot of community uplift here.
Second, Oakland has very few police. We didn’t “defund the police” so much as “mismanage our budget”, but we have very few cops relative to the size of our city.
Third: our poorest neighborhoods are suffering TERRIBLY from violent crime and property crime. The city is still nice, but the same areas in which a lot of poor, non-white folks can tell you stories about bad interactions with cops will be the first to tell you that alleviating poverty is important, but they need help NOW. They need someone to call when bullets start flying.
Frankly, I think OP – and the Panthers! – have it dead fucking right! We DO need folks on the street ready to step up. We need services, we need parks, we need gun control… we need a lot of alternatives to policing. But we also need direct timely response teams to problems happening NOW. And my fellow lefties should start chewing on that idea, especially as the fascist state begins sending the secret police to bag-and-tag your fuckin’ neighbor!
Amen.
What I find fascinating and difficult to swallow is impoverished (and non) people’s desire to have kids and not raise them, almost as if they are happy with their shit sandwich, and think “yeah” I’ll give this to a another human.
Boy o boy have I seen deplorables breed when they are in no capacity to look after themselves. It comes across to me as a type of evil.
The meat grinder is made from this stupidity.
The cruelest thing you can do to another person is to bring them into the world. If you’re already going to be that much of a monster the least you can do is fucking look after them, too.
You reduce the need for it, you reduce their military power. You give them better training and force them to use non lethal forces when possible (usually it is)
Stop breaking into people’s houses incorrectly and shooting them
Also forced body cameras and strict follow up
Police should be needed less, but police still need to be policed by the people
I mean, it think it’s the wrong question. I think the question is, what can we do to minimize the need for police? The problem there is it usually involves lifting up poorer communities and no one wants to supply these communities with the resources to do it.
This is true, but also incomplete.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I’m a socialist activist in Oakland (home of the original Black Panters!), and I gotta tell you, this is where the rubber really meets the road.
First, Oakland knows what’s up. This is a very politically aware town, with some moderate but genuine leftists in government. We do a lot of community uplift here.
Second, Oakland has very few police. We didn’t “defund the police” so much as “mismanage our budget”, but we have very few cops relative to the size of our city.
Third: our poorest neighborhoods are suffering TERRIBLY from violent crime and property crime. The city is still nice, but the same areas in which a lot of poor, non-white folks can tell you stories about bad interactions with cops will be the first to tell you that alleviating poverty is important, but they need help NOW. They need someone to call when bullets start flying.
Frankly, I think OP – and the Panthers! – have it dead fucking right! We DO need folks on the street ready to step up. We need services, we need parks, we need gun control… we need a lot of alternatives to policing. But we also need direct timely response teams to problems happening NOW. And my fellow lefties should start chewing on that idea, especially as the fascist state begins sending the secret police to bag-and-tag your fuckin’ neighbor!
I don’t like it. But that’s where we’re at.
Amen. What I find fascinating and difficult to swallow is impoverished (and non) people’s desire to have kids and not raise them, almost as if they are happy with their shit sandwich, and think “yeah” I’ll give this to a another human. Boy o boy have I seen deplorables breed when they are in no capacity to look after themselves. It comes across to me as a type of evil. The meat grinder is made from this stupidity.
This is why I decided I didn’t want kids many years ago. I can barely look after myself, I can’t imagine having to take care of kids.
The cruelest thing you can do to another person is to bring them into the world. If you’re already going to be that much of a monster the least you can do is fucking look after them, too.
Well said.
Agreed. It is multi step
You reduce the need for it, you reduce their military power. You give them better training and force them to use non lethal forces when possible (usually it is)
Stop breaking into people’s houses incorrectly and shooting them
Also forced body cameras and strict follow up
Police should be needed less, but police still need to be policed by the people