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The Official Thread of Systemic Racism

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Ghost_MH

Ghost_MH

Posted
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39 minutes ago, Emperor Diocletian II said:

 

There's a lot of confusion regarding what is meant by "defunding" the police, largely because the term is being conflated with "abolishing" the police which really isn't  the case at all.

 

In its proper context, "defunding the police" means EXACTLY what you posted: reducing the scope of the role that police play in society to addressing only the most serious and/or violent crimes.  By that "descoping" of the role of police, those resources could then be redirected to those "social and community services" that you refer to.  The fact of the matter is that at least 75% to 80% of the tasks and issues that currently involve law enforcement (domestic issues, homelessness, individuals with psychological disorders, petty crime, etc.) can (and SHOULD!) be handled by well-trained social workers, not an institution whose toolset is pretty much limited to the application of force (the old "if your only tool is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail" adage).

 

Verso Books is offering the e-book version of "The End of Policing" by Alex Vitale which discusses how the scope of "policing" has expanded in recent decades, much to the detriment of public safety for free.

 

Hell, even things like traffic violations shouldn't have to involve the police. We really should be decreasing the amount of time regular people have to interact with armed officers of the law. That would also remove another vector police use for harassing persons of color.

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PaladinSolo

PaladinSolo

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Reputator said:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/06/07/minneapolis-votes-to-disband-police-department/#1c41f2725274

 

Has this been posted yet?

 

How the fuck is this going to work? I'm genuinely curious.

The just re-establish the PD and can do so without contractual issues so they can reorganize how they want, and not re-hire those they want gone.

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Spork3245

Spork3245

Posted
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13 minutes ago, Reputator said:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/06/07/minneapolis-votes-to-disband-police-department/#1c41f2725274

 

Has this been posted yet?

 

How the fuck is this going to work? I'm genuinely curious.


They did it in Camden, NJ in 2013. It turned the department around and rooted out a ton of the corruption Camden PD was known for. Basically, something like 95% of the force is fired, those who were fired can reapply for their jobs.

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AbsolutSurgen

AbsolutSurgen

Posted
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I don't think there is much consistency in what "defunding the police" means.  Sandy Hudson, one of the co-founders and leaders of "Black Lives Matter -- Toronto" has written numerous op-eds and appeared in television interviews.  The position she has put forward is the complete defunding of all police.

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1745746499555/

(I don't know if people in the US can see this link, but she is pretty clear on her POV)

We must defund the police. It is the only option.

Quote

Perhaps to many of you, defunding the police sounds impossible. But Black people will continue to fight against accepted wisdom: we must defund the police; it is the only option. Through your inaction, you show us your inherent belief system—a Black life lived with dignity is unreasonable, and a liberated Black life is impossible.

White people, I need you to look beyond the limitations of your own making and understand that the possibility of my liberated existence requires more than a retweet, an opinion piece, and even more than attending a demonstration. That’s the easy way out.

How can we expect an institution that has failed all attempts at reform to suddenly refrain from targeting, maiming and killing Black people because of a new police chief, mayor or policy? I am asking you to refuse an approach to safety that is simply good enough for you, and absolutely unjust to me.

 

Defunding The Police Will Save Black And Indigenous Lives In Canada

Quote

Perhaps you are thinking to yourself, “What about violent crime?”

I hear you. And I want you to consider this simple fact: police do not prevent violence. What we need in the event of violent crime is a service that will effectively respond to it, stop it from happening if it is ongoing, and investigate the circumstances surrounding it.

This is a conversation about safety, and the mechanism through which we as a society will provide safety for one another. 

Policing is ill-equipped to suit these needs.

When victims are not the right kinds of victims, police have utterly failed. When the queer community in Toronto told police there was a serial killer targeting racialized queer men in the Church Street village, the police openly denied there was a serial killer and did not take the threat seriously. This allowed serial killer Bruce MacArthur to get away with murdering at least eight men over at least seven years.

In British Columbia, police failed to apprehend serial killer Robert Pickton for over 20 years,  and this failure meant that Pickton was able to murder 49 women. The majority of these women were Indigenous, and police routinely refuse to take the disappearance of Indigenous women seriously. When Toronto police attended to the suspicious death of Black trans woman Sumaya Dalmar in 2015, they closed the investigation without ruling it a homicide or releasing a cause of death after social media outcry.

Black communities interact with police regularly because we live in neighbourhoods police target. We are experts in the ways that police can brutalize and inflict violence upon us. Their presence is no assurance of safety in Black communities. This is often true for Indigenous communities and communities living in poverty as well.

There are other communities who do not interact with police regularly. Wealthier, non-Black, non-Indigenous, privileged communities tend to feel safe because they have a rarely used option to call the police when they feel their safety is threatened. But, they are generally not interacting with police; their communities are not policed in the same way, and they are not targeted for criminalization.

 

While in some circles, defunding the police may not mean "completely eliminating the police".  It appears to mean it in some circles, including the largest BLM movement in Canada.

 

@CitizenVectron If you found my reaction strong in the other thread, I read it shortly after hearing the above interview on CBC News Network.

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