I have messy feelings on policing. I once felt it was an institution with the potential to be a positive and important one, if it were to go through enough reform. But I have more recently learned that sociological research generally doesn’t support the notion that its an effective intervention for crime barring one particular form of policing (I think it was regular patrolling?) And it can absolutely contribute to the actual root causes of crime as we understand them academically (poverty, systemic disenfranchisement/systemic disinvestment)
I think in general I’m also reaching the conclusion I think carceral justice is a really dysfunctional and counterproductive way to handle harms, but I also feel its important for there to be people investigating who is responsible for harms.
And I’m not entirely sure how I see those things being synthesized just yet.
As always, thanks for teaching us stuff and giving us the benefit of learning from how things have been different and similar throughout history :)
Policing has a place IMO, but it should strictly be an interventional measure. I don’t trust policing, but I trust mob justice even less.
Where policing doesn’t have a place is prevention. There are socioeconomic factors at play that push people toward criminal behavior, where “fear of getting caught” is not an effective deterrent. It’s better to address those socioeconomic root causes and eliminate that need to resort to criminal behavior in the first place.
And who knows, maybe in a world where you need fewer cops, you can also be a bit more selective about the ones you hire.
Absolutely fascinating, thanks for explaining!
I have messy feelings on policing. I once felt it was an institution with the potential to be a positive and important one, if it were to go through enough reform. But I have more recently learned that sociological research generally doesn’t support the notion that its an effective intervention for crime barring one particular form of policing (I think it was regular patrolling?) And it can absolutely contribute to the actual root causes of crime as we understand them academically (poverty, systemic disenfranchisement/systemic disinvestment)
I think in general I’m also reaching the conclusion I think carceral justice is a really dysfunctional and counterproductive way to handle harms, but I also feel its important for there to be people investigating who is responsible for harms.
And I’m not entirely sure how I see those things being synthesized just yet.
As always, thanks for teaching us stuff and giving us the benefit of learning from how things have been different and similar throughout history :)
Policing has a place IMO, but it should strictly be an interventional measure. I don’t trust policing, but I trust mob justice even less.
Where policing doesn’t have a place is prevention. There are socioeconomic factors at play that push people toward criminal behavior, where “fear of getting caught” is not an effective deterrent. It’s better to address those socioeconomic root causes and eliminate that need to resort to criminal behavior in the first place.
And who knows, maybe in a world where you need fewer cops, you can also be a bit more selective about the ones you hire.