Abolishing the police sounds scary. It sounds like something out of The Purge -- like we’ll have street gangs roaming the streets, criminals running rampant. But what is the truth about abolishing the police? What does it actually mean?
The police system we currently have is biased and unregulated. It was created during the Reconstruction era. Our police system spent its early years arresting emancipated black people for minor crimes (jaywalking, loitering, etc.) to send them to our newly founded prison systems to take advantage of the clause that allows the enslavement of incarcerated individuals in the 13th amendment.
It’s easy to say, “that was a long time ago!” It’s easy to assume that the police have changed. Until you look at the Civil Rights Movement, 50+ years ago and see how the police treated them. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was never part of any peaceful protest-- and that’s because the police met them with violence. Now, look at today.
Tamir Rice. Philando Castille. George Floyd. Sandra Blande. Botham Jean. Eric Garner. Mike Brown. Rayshard Brooks. The list can exceed my character limits, but these are the victims of our current police system. There are thousands of more dating back to the beginning.
Abolishing the police does not mean abolish law enforcement. There are good cops out there, and you shouldn’t be afraid of this concept. You will be the ones protecting and serving the public. If you’re one of the good ones, you have nothing to worry about.
We need to start dismantling our current system. We need to implement policy and action to weed out bad cops. There needs to be federal guidelines that require law enforcement to have a degree, deescalation training, regular mental heath evaluations etc. Law enforcement needs to have a legal responsibility to protect and serve. As of right now, they have no legal responsibility to do so. We need to focus on preventing crime, rather than having our law enforcement work as clean up.
We need to put funding into the schools in these high-crime areas. We need to fund social programs so that law enforcement isn’t bombarded with things they shouldn’t be responsible for. There are so many better ideas to fight crime than flooding our streets with the police.
Abolishing the police is an abstract concept that can include many different plans and ideas and you don’t have to agree with all of them. But, there is no denying that our current system is broken, and we, as in humanity, need to evolve to protect all of us.
I know good cops. I have family members who are good cops. But I also know people who have been the victim of bad cops. I’ve watched, with my own two eyes, what bad cops are capable of.
Bad cops put good cops in danger. Protecting them does nothing but hurt you. I know some of you cops on Staten Island understand the importance of what’s going on right now across this country. I know you don’t condone the actions of officers like Derek Chauvin or Daniel Pantaleo.
Please stand with us. We need you.
(Camryn Kenny is a Meiers Corners resident.)
"danger" - Google News
July 05, 2020 at 06:17PM
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Bad cops put good cops in danger (letter to the editor) - SILive.com
"danger" - Google News
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