Fascinating. I do remember the protests and something about the aftermath but not a result like this.
It is often taken as a given by the general public that policing reduces crime because this is what we're always told and why would we be told this if it wasn't true? But it's one of those things that people accept as true without really figuring out why it's true, just that it's true because everyone else says it's true.
More of a common sense thing. For example:
Dude steals your TV and get's caught on your security camera, and by-golly you manage to identify him. As a result:
"
Dear Anderson McThief:
You are being summoned to the greater Suffix Court in regards to robbery charges. Please arrive in court on Wednesday.
If convicted, please report to the local penitentiary."
Really now, how exactly are you planning on enforcing the law if you have no enforcement personnel? The Honor System?
Law Enforcement really
isn't about deterrence in the sense that police can actively stop crimes. This isn't Minority Report. Rather, it's about justice; investigating crimes, apprehending criminals, and stopping crimes in progress if possible.
If you took away the police, most people would be helpless when they're victims of crimes. Whether it's armed robbers in your house, or being molested by your parents, there's no one going to come and arrest the bad guys. Unless...you know...
money. If you have money, you could definitely pay for armed services, for bounty hunters and private I's to get justice for yourself. It'll be a
great way to privatize the justice system. It'll be the ultimate form of capitalism. I just
know how much people on this form would love this.
Really the issue is that the police system has been mismanaged for years due to a lack of public oversight. Issues have always been known, but most people haven't cared or have been apathetic. Police deal with Criminals -- or minorities -- and just as taxpayers don't want to fork the bill for improving prisons, they don't really care about the issues until the problems hit critical mass And once that does happen, everyone just takes a simplistic counter position of
"We don't need it; let's just burn it all down!" Rather than the arduous task of fixing the issues. And they won't do a
single thing until they can burn it all down. They let everything rot until there's no other option.
So, does the police system need a major overhaul? Yes. Would 'just not having police' be a good solution? No. God no. Like, have you ever read a history book or paid attention to global events? Simply not having law enforcement does not work.
