F*** The Police

Swan Red · July 14, 2020

I'm romarioingscussion from the Covid thread.

The role of the police has been in close focus in recent times, abolitionist talk has reached the mainstream, transitional stuff like defunding the police and outright abolition have reached major papers in the US. In the NYT Mariame Kaba wrote the NYT Column

Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police

While this conversation has in the main been driven by the racist policing and murder of Black Americans it has also reached these shores Kier Starmer dismissing defund the police out of hand was still notable because it was a question even put to him.

The role of policing reflects a number of principles in the relationship between a state and residents within its jurisdiction, not all residents are equal with clear legal distinctions being drawn between citizens, those with various residential statuses, those in the asylum process and those undocumented. This is important because it exposes those that do not have the recourse to police because of their status but also demonstrates the increasing threat the police pose to those whose status is in question. But in addition to the legally defined discriminatory practices are those practices that are discriminatory by convention, and by reflecting a society that is white supremacist, cisheteronormative, ableist patriarchal and capitalist.

The state maintains it has a monopoly on the use of violence, however given there allowances made for self defence what the state actually maintains is a monopoly on offensive violence, violence that does not have to be proportionate to the actual threat posed. The enforcers of this violence domestically are the police. Not a day passes without some story of how the metropolitan police are acting with extreme prejudice. Whether Covid related, stop and search, discrimination against Black and Non Black POC within their own force. So whenever we criminalise some behaviour we increase the threat of police violence knowing that this will manifest in a discriminatory manner and in the vast majority of cases entirely disproportionately to the harm caused.

I’m not familiar enough with abolitionist arguments to have a fully formed opinion on this but I am sympathetic to those that argue for it. For those interested two resources worth staring with are;

Mariame Kaba who wrote the above, do check out the interviews on the AirGo podcast, she’s three up there, the latest from last week is particularly relevant for those wanting to understand the current moment.

Ep 253 - The Abolition Suite Vol. 2: Mariame Kaba

Oonagh Ryder: Often found at Novara at the Lockdown Podcast

Edited July 15, 2020 by Swan Red

Cam · July 14, 2020