Getting rid of the police

[The Guru]

@I AM IRONMAN is so dumb that he can't even make his fake scenarios for his fake movement seem remotely plausible.

[I AM IRONMAN]

Quiet down Andy and get back to work!

[Belly Bob]

1 hour ago, 15yds4gibberish said:

Lots to unpack in that sentence to better understand what you mean, but fwiw, after listening to and reading the more serious arguments for ‘defunding' (but not really defunding) the police, the term that a business consultant would use is something like  'reinvent' or 'rethink' the police.

It’s not clear to me how far the politics will go, but the questions being asked are important.   In an era of shrinking municipal budgets, the costs of America's current style of policing have major impacts on the ability of communities to provide other necessary public goods that are essential to vitality.    What roles should be reserved for the police in our cities, and what roles would better be served by hiring more teachers, social workers or mental health experts?

I agree that the questions being asked are important. But I feel like we've been asking those questions for a very long time now. Maybe paying the police less and giving that money to other public servants might make a difference, but I doubt it.

But I agree that something needs to be done, because the idea of becoming a police officer, like the idea of becoming a school teacher or a social worker, is becoming less attractive every day. 

[15yds4gibberish]

1 hour ago, Belly Bob said:

I agree that the questions being asked are important. But I feel like we've been asking those questions for a very long time now. Maybe paying the police less and giving that money to other public servants might make a difference, but I doubt it.

But I agree that something needs to be done, because the idea of becoming a police officer, like the idea of becoming a school teacher or a social worker, is becoming less attractive every day. 

I hear you.  Having lived through the Detroit 67 riots, I'm not going to disagree that these are very old questions.  But I do see some hopeful signs this time that weren't there 50 years ago.

If it were up to me, we'd have a national conversation about what policing is for (and which would inevitably lead to discussions about economic inequality and public safety etc.).  And after we had that conversation,  we'd begin the process of developing evidence-informed policies and practices to carry out that vision...

In the meantime, enjoy a song from my youth that popped into my head last week.  It sounds like a protest song, but it's actually a love song:

 

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