• BanMe@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    4 days ago

    “Abolish the police” is about the worst messaging you can use, it makes people vehemently reject you. It became a laughingstock thing in the midwest after BLM protests, “Can you believe those crazy Minnesota liberals think we shouldn’t have police.” We do actually need police, as you’ll discover if you’re robbed. We just need them to be completely different, in a way that no one’s quite figured out yet. The discussion about what they should actually do (and not do) is the conversation we need to start.

    • GraniteM@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      4 days ago

      Civilian review boards. Abolishing qualified immunity. Abolishing the practice of cops getting fired for some fuckery but then getting new cop jobs in a different district. Abolishing civil forfeiture. Disarming cops except for highly specialized and carefully managed units. Training in de-escalation and enforcement of its use. Employment of mental health crisis agents when armed cops aren’t warranted. Abolishing no-knock raids.

      These are just the policies I could think of off the top of my head that would go a long way to improving the police problem. I imagine there are tons more. We could try to implement any or all of them and see immediate improvements. But instead people go straight to “abolish the police / ACAB,” and suddenly there’s no such thing as a discussion anymore, just pro- and anti- groups screaming at each other.

  • A_Chilean_Cyborg@feddit.cl
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    4 days ago

    People used to say this stuff non-ironically on my country (chile) years ago, but the steady rise of organized crime has made it so poppularity of the police now sits at like a 70%, yeah, police can be terrible, but the monsters hiding on the shadows waiting for a weakened police to emerge, are way worse.

    We need a more professional police, more strict within their ranks, with better training and betting.

    • mriormro@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      4 days ago

      The US policing system needs to be completely redeveloped from the ground up. It’s far too institutionally entrenched in outright racist and militarized policies.

    • MuckyWaffles@leminal.space
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      4 days ago

      This is why I feel you can’t just start with abolishing the police. There’s too many problems that gave us the need for police as a band aid fix we need to focus on first. But then all these issues are so interconnected, it’s tricky.

  • thelivefive@startrek.website
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    25
    ·
    6 days ago

    Yes, the police go around shooting and abducting people and taking their possessions, but if we didn’t have them we’d have gangs going around shooting and abducting people and taking their possessions.

  • bizarroland@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    20
    ·
    6 days ago

    I guess you could say the police are being paid to protect you from the things they would do to you if you stopped paying them.

  • KernelTale@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    6 days ago

    Police is necessary but in USA it sure does require some serious defunding and alternatives. For example what Mandani tries to do.

    • floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      4 days ago

      In a lot of countries the regular policeman you meet on the street have no firearms on them and yet have lower crime rates than the US.

      “Policing” effectively does not require violence. Why do American cops always throw people on the ground and/or force their arms when cuffing them? If they’re unarmed and cooperative that’s entirely unnecessary, yet it seems standard practice there.

      Also, the continued use of “law enforcement” over “police” and “cops” is one of the greatest acts of newspeak. You aren’t against enforcing the law are you? That would make you an anarchist and a terrorist

      • Dicska@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        4 days ago

        I’m not an expert copolist, and I’m almost sure this is not the only reason, but it seems somewhat easier to keep crime at bay when not every four year old can just carry an AR15 with a rocket launcher and plasma gun attachment.

    • Lightfire228@pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      5 days ago

      Something needs to fill the role of civil protection services

      Though, how to do that without encouraging corruption, i dunno