The Police

A Broken System

As a result of the violent murder of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer, we have heard cries to defund the police and even to abolish the police all together. Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, supports reforming the police department with an over site board, new training and investment in community resources, but these are mere band aids for a much larger, deeply broken criminal justice system of which the police are only one part.

Abolishing the police department does not seem logical, either. Crimes will still happen even with investment in community resources and people need someone to call when they do. After all, if the police had not existed, who would have arrested Amaud Aubrey’s killers? We need the police to apprehend violent criminals, but the vast majority of police work can be done in a less invasive, less threatening manner.

The Response Should Fit the Crime

It seems unreasonable to respond to an accusation of paying with a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill with four police officers, all carrying guns. This seems like overkill for a non-violent crime, but that is how our police system is set up. The police arrest criminals to bring them to justice which means punishment. The police are the first step in an archaic system of crime and punishment.

But what if we approached non-violent crime in a different way? I propose hiring a new class of Peace Officers who would respond to calls regarding non-violent activity without carrying lethal weapons, although tasers may be appropriate. These Peace Offices could issue traffic tickets, respond to car accidents, deal with issues of homelessness, drug use and all kinds of non-violent police calls. In addition, Peace Officers should have the training and knowledge to help people find the community resources they need to eliminate the need for criminal activity in the first place and, if things get out of hand, they can always call on the small police force for back-up.

For example, what if George Floyd had used a counterfeit bill to buy baby formula because he did not have the money to purchase it? A Peace Office could respond to the situation, maybe issue a citation and help him find a food bank where he could get the formula for free. As the system is set up now, he was treated as a criminal who needed to be punished. All too often, that is exactly how the police approach the situation, with a heavy hand from the beginning. We do not know why or if George Floyd really used a counterfeit bill because the officers did not even ask the questions needed to find out the real circumstances. They were too focused on crime and punishment.

Crimes are often committed out of desperation and people are desperate due to the tremendous inequality that exists in society. Mental illness, drug addiction and poverty can lead to jail sentences with long term repercussions which make it even harder to get a job and may even prevent people from the fundamental role of citizen in our democracy, by taking away the right to vote. This further disenfranchises people who are already disenfranchised in the first place. We must decriminalize non-violent crime, but the police department can’t do that alone.

Reforming the Criminal Justice System

You cannot reform the police without reforming the entire criminal justice system. There are laws in place. If someone is caught with cocaine, they have broken the law and must be arrested, as it is now. I am envisioning a Peace Officer who could issue a citation and take the person to a rehabilitation facility where they could get real help. Wouldn’t that be nice? Treating people who need help with the dignity they deserve, instead of treating them as criminals to be punished.

Now, we are not just taking about the police, but the law. The protesters are not talking about simple reforms. They know we need deep systemic change that requires more than reforming the police department. We must decriminalize non-violent crime by changing the laws that put black and brown people in prison at a much higher rate than whites. This is not an easy task and requires not only changes in policing, but lawmaking, courts and prisons.

And I haven’t even started talking about racial bias. That is a cultural change that needs to take place among the police, in the courts with juries and judges and every white person in American society.

We cannot allow ourselves to be seduced by simple solutions like band aid reforms or abolishing the police. The problems in our society run deeper than that and so must the solutions. We need a complete overhaul of the criminal justice system and a culture shift to end racism. Only then, will we have the systemic change needed to truly solve the deeply rooted problems we face from four hundred years of oppression.

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