Reining in the Police Would Endanger Us

First, let’s clarify who “us” is. We (us) are those who: (a) don’t and wouldn’t commit crimes of violence against other people; and, critically, include (b) most people who are, to a greater or lesser extent, in a position to influence what powers (and protections) the police where we live may have. The “protections” are primarily against investigation, publicization, regulation, and discipline for situations in which police officers might abuse people who either committed no crimes, or only committed crimes with the participation or permission of the police.

At the present moment, it’s widely propounded that police throughout America have too much power—and protection—in their dealings with the people they encounter, or are dealing with, on our streets. “The people they are dealing with” are not to be discounted among those they interact with. Incidents of police shooting people (usually racial minorities) running or walking away from them have been numerous. The shooters happen, most-often, to be racial majorities (white), but that is simply a reflection of the constitution of today’s police forces; with the advance of “diversity” throughout American society, more of the (police) shooters will be minorities and, perhaps less-Point (a) is an obvious “yes”—it would benefit not only drug dealers in thrall to the police for “protection,” but it would also benefit many people, perhaps chiefly minorities, who now for any of various reasons suffer from the unwelcome attentions of the “finest” of our various cities and suburbs. Point (b) entails ultimately unquantifiable values—it is better dealt with in terms of “spirit” than in terms of past or prospective statistics, if only for the reason that, after the fact, probabilities don’t matter either to victims of a policy change or to those who happen to escape any discernible effects of it. After all, the proposed changed policy (“reining in” the police) is itself subject to modulation—“how much” is a real issue, and choice, in its implementation.

The proposition is really, despite the protestations of partisans on either side of the debate, are “we” willing to risk, even temporarily, the mixed effects of increased freedom from police intervention and powers, in order to give “them”—whoever they are and whatever they’re up to—a bit more of what can only be called justice in their existences?

Everyone will have different answers—answers that differ in kind (such as “No”) and answers that differ only in degree (all the “Yes” answers).

It is a test of “our” ingenuity, our judgment, our values, and our spirit. Let us deal with it as such.

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