This article is helpful in understanding why hiring more police officers or increasing police budgets actually does little to protect a community. At its core, the argument centers on how we understand and approach dealing with crime. Here’s some helpful context:
3 things can be simultaneously true:
1. The violence in Chicago is exaggerated and hyped nationally due to racism. Chicago is not the murder capital of the world, or even the most violent city in the country. In fact, it’s not in the top 10.
2. Violence is absolutely a real harm that impacts too many people every day.
3. The people most impacted by this violence recognize that creating public safety has little to do with policing.
Collectively, we need to decide how to view crime. Our current policies are a reflection of our larger social and political values, and they’re in desperate need of change. At present, these failed policies see crime primarily as a problem to be deterred through fear and punishment. We need to realize that crime is really a socioeconomic problem that needs to be managed. There is empirical evidence that this approach is far more effective at keeping crime rates low and reducing recidivism.
Police are a response to crime, not a deterrent. They maintain a crime scene (often sloppily) and pick up evidence (occasionally). They are not by any stretch a preventative measure. Last year, law enforcement killed 1,176 people. It was the deadliest year on record (so far) for police violence, according to Mapping Police Violence. Of those killed, 132 people killed were in cases in which no offenses were alleged. 104 of those killed were during mental health or welfare checks, 98 cases involved traffic violations, and 207 involved allegations of nonviolent offenses. 46% of the cases in which police killed people were originally nonviolent incidents.
If we want to make our communities safer, which we can all agree is a top priority, the solution has nothing to do with hiring more piglets or pouring more money into a broken law enforcement system.
Side Items
Israel Attacks Worshippers (Again): The second time was indeed NOT the charm, as members of apartheid Israel’s military stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque for the second night in a row, forcibly removing and brutalizing Palestinian worshippers looking to pray in peace. To be clear, these apartheid defenders are emboldened by international inaction, knowing full well that everyone is watching their attacks on a house of worship. Their continued displays of violence are not only an intimidation tactic, they also uphold an illusion of sovereignty & security in the minds of the everyday Israelis. The same Israelis who just last week were in the streets protesting for “democracy”
Tough Day for Catholics: More than 150 Catholic priests and religious leaders associated with the Roman Catholic church in Baltimore sexually abused over 600 children over the course of 80 years. A long-awaited state report was released yesterday, detailing how the pedophiles frequently escaped accountability and accusing church leaders of decades of coverups. The Maryland attorney general’s office released the findings of their investigation this week, which is considered the most sacred time of year in Christianity ahead of Easter Sunday, and said the number of victims is likely far higher
Corrupt Supreme: Clarence Thomas, the public servant and widely-reviled supreme court justice, has been accepting luxury vacations from a wealthy republican donor for more than two decades. Thomas has gone on these swanky trips virtually every year, sponsored by Harlan Crow, a Dallas businessman and real estate hoarder, without disclosing the vacations or their source. These frequent trips appear nowhere on Thomas’ financial disclosures, which appears to violate a law passed decades ago that requires justices, judges, members of congress and federal officials to disclose gifts. It’s not exactly news, but it’s always disheartening to be reminded that the most powerful decision-makers in this country were bought and paid for long ago