[ExI] that's why

[Darin Sunley]

There's a basic structural problem with policing, as an institution. It is
fundamentally the wrong solution for many of the tasks we've handed over to
it.


"Part of our misunderstanding about the nature of policing is we keep
imagining that we can turn police into social workers. That we can make
them nice, friendly community outreach workers. But police are violence
workers. That's what distinguishes them from all other government
functions. ... They have the legal capacity to use violence in situations
where the average citizen would be arrested.

So when we turn a problem [i.e. homelessness, mental health, narcotics
abuse, disruptive behavior in schools, etc] over to the police to manage,
there will be violence, because those are ultimately the tools that they
are most equipped to utilize: handcuffs, threats, guns, arrests. That's
what really is at the root of policing. So if we don't want violence, we
should try to figure out how to not get the police involved."


https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/06/03/457251670/how-much-do-we-need-the-police



https://www.amazon.com/End-Policing-Alex-S-Vitale-ebook/dp/B01I85OOZA/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=


On Mon, Jun 8, 2020 at 9:09 AM SR Ballard via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> Completely agree.
>
> SR Ballard
>
> On Jun 8, 2020, at 7:07 AM, Dave Sill via extropy-chat <
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
> On Mon, Jun 8, 2020 at 12:19 AM Stathis Papaioannou via extropy-chat <
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>>
>> They are proposing replacing the existing police force with a better one:
>>
>> “In Minneapolis and in cities across the US, it is clear that our system
>> of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” said Lisa Bender, the
>> Minneapolis city council president, at the event. “Our efforts at
>> incremental reform have failed, period. Our commitment is to do what’s
>> necessary to keep every single member of our community safe and to tell the
>> truth: that the Minneapolis police are not doing that. Our commitment is to
>> end policing as we know it and to recreate systems of public safety that
>> actually keep us safe.”
>>
>>
>> https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/07/minneapolis-city-council-defund-police-george-floyd
>>
>> Even the poorest, most deprived states in the world generally find the
>> resources to maintain a police force.
>>
>
> The problems with policing in the US are pretty well-known:
>
> - too-strong police unions - bad actors rarely punished by the police force
> - qualified immunity - bad actors rarely punished in civil court
> - militarization - military weapons and equipment without real need or
> proper training
> - excessive use of force - see https://8cantwait.org/
> - culture of disrespect for citizens - us vs. them mentality instead of
> "protect & serve"
> - too many victimless crime laws - the Drug War does more harm than good
> - attracts bad actors - if you're racist and/or you want to be a badass,
> it's the place to work
> etc.
>
> Starting with a clean slate might fix some of them but it won't fix all of
> them.
>
> Politicians have to stand up to the unions. Congress has to end qualified
> immunity (there's a bill in the House now). Transfer of military equipment
> to police needs to stop. I think every use of force or allegation of
> wrongdoing by an officer should be reviewed by a citizen's review board
> empowered to recommend disciplinary actions, criminal charges, or firing,
> and these results should be a permanent part of every officer's record.
> State and federal governments will have to decriminalize drugs.
>
> -Dave
>
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