Demonstration against police brutality in August 2020 in MinneapolisKEREM YUCEL / AFP via Getty Images
After the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor last summer, much of the world discovered the concept of "defunding the police." This particular expression was not in common use even among activists in the movement, but it was three easy words to write on a banner or as a social media label that captured a major change in direction in the debate on how to end abuses. police. The demands for more money for agent training, technological modernization or police supervision are over. That moment represented the rejection of the "procedural" reforms included by the Obama administration's task force on policing in the 20th century, which many police departments embraced with great enthusiasm.These were reforms designed to “restore public confidence in the police”, without addressing the issue that the use of the police to manage a series of social problems that have been festering for 40 years has been drastically expanded, such as the large numbers of homeless people, school failure and lack of treatment for mental health problems and drug addiction. The Minneapolis police - including the officers involved in George Floyd's murder - had implemented all of these reforms, with measures such as training sessions on implicit bias and stress reduction courses, as well as the practice of meditation and concentration;officers wore body cameras and had to act under a new "use of force" policy that prioritized the "inviolability of life". None of those things did any good. George Floyd's life simply did not matter to them.
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The idea that all this can be solved by firing or sending a few police officers to prison has also been abandoned. Although the families and communities that have suffered the most from police violence want some form of justice, the idea that putting a few “bad apples” in jail is not going to truly change the way they act. policeman. The criminal legal system was created to allow police violence, not to contain it, so it should not be surprising that the same system excuses the murders committed by its agents. And, even on the rare occasions when an officer is convicted, there is little reason to think that policing will essentially change because of it.Jason Van Dyke was convicted of the murder of Laquan McDonald two years ago, and no one in Chicago has seen the astonishing transformation of its police department.
The goal of this new movement is more radical. More and more activists in highly policed communities are aware that violence is inherent in policing and that therefore one of the ways to reduce it is to reduce our need for police forces in every way possible. That doesn't mean someone is going to flip a switch tomorrow to make the police magically disappear. This is what the supporters of "supporting the police" claim to frighten people who believe, because they have been told that, that the police are the only instrument capable of guaranteeing public safety. But that switch does not exist, nor is there any local administration that is going to eliminate the police line in the budget for next year.What people are asking for is a process in which concrete alternatives to the police are developed that better ensure the safety of communities and in which resources are taken from police departments to finance them.
At bottom, it is a movement in defense of public security, led above all by black women who have suffered deep insecurity in their lives and for whom the police have been of little help or have even contributed to aggravating the problem. Many women have already given up calling the police for protection. For them, security is not represented by a person with an official badge and a gun who is perhaps going to terrorize, criminalize or ignore them even more. Safety is about helping families and offering alternatives to women and children. And that means investing in family support centers, stable housing and financial aid, as well as ways to become independent for those who want them. It also means creating local crisis teams,made up of members of the local community trained to deal with possible volatile situations without resorting to violence.
Over the past 40 years, the United States has pursued a policy of economic liberalization that has put enormous pressure on local communities to subsidize economic sectors capable of competing in the world, in the hope that the success of those industries would allow that part of their wealth be distributed in a cascade and generate prosperity for all. This neoliberal system requires these communities to impose austerity measures to compensate for tax exemptions and other incentives offered to these sectors, which leaves few resources available for public welfare. The result has not been the economic benefit for all. On the contrary, it has been an immense inequality: on the one hand, a new class of billionaires and, on the other,a growing population of the poor and failed institutions. This inequality has led to an increase in vulnerable groups, whose survival strategies are said to be criminal, public order and moral failure problems that must be addressed with intense and aggressive police work.
What is needed is not a more professional police response to these problems, but rather to start allocating resources to help communities and individuals who have been left out of the global economy and who are criminalized when they try to survive. This translates into the decriminalization of drugs and sex work, investment in youth employment plans, the creation of more community mental health and drug addiction services, the reinstatement of counselors, support teachers, and quality programs in our schools. and investing in community programs to end violence. Communities know what it takes to be safe without relying on the police. It's about time we gave them the resources to do it.
This is a text written for 'Ideas' by the sociologist
Alex S. Vitale
(Houston, 1965) in the wake of the publication of his latest book, 'The end of police control', by Captain Swing.
Translation by María Luisa Rodríguez Tapia.
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