In an unprecedented raid Friday, local law enforcement seized computers, cellphones and reporting materials from the Marion County Record office, the newspaper’s reporters, and the publisher’s home.
Yeah we would still have that. They just wouldn’t be called police anymore. I used to think it was hyperbole to say that every police agency in the US traces it’s origins to slave patrols, and now I realize that it is true.
The entire notion of policing, armed people reacting to crimes, catching criminals like cat and mouse, is what is broken. It doesn’t reduce crime, it makes more. It breaks families and communities. And what do we get in return? At best, we get to make a criminal feel extra bad by putting them in jail for a long long time. That model must end.
There will still be a reactionary force to call when warranted. But the force that responds when shit hits the fan and the force you call when you’re in a fender bender don’t need to be the same thing. Virtually every police call can be better handled by health and welfare services. Building affordable housing reduces the crime rate. Teaching people skills reduces the crime rate. That’s what the police force should be aimed at. But no, we have cat and mouse.
