The Post-Police Era

[727Sky]

JUNE 5, 2020 By David Marcus
 
I’m not gonna lie, this isn’t exactly what I expected — lying here in the hospital. I mean, it’s only a few broken bones, a punctured lung, and some stitches to the head, but I almost feel betrayed.
Three weeks ago when I took the five-hour online course to become an unarmed rapid response social worker, I thought I was helping mankind. After all, with the police abolished, somebody had to be there to mitigate when people had inevitable disagreements.
My first mitigation didn’t go great. I was called to the scene of a bank robbery — which, there weren’t supposed to be any bank robberies once the capitalist-driven oppression of the police no longer created crime, but this guy apparently didn’t get the memo, I guess. He was a Latinx male-presenting person about 5’6” holding a shotgun.
Thinking back on my extensive training, I tried to calm things down with a breathing exercise. But he just kept yelling and pointing the gun at me, which again, not supposed to happen. I told him that as a white cis man, I could never know the trauma the Spanish-speaking people suffered under white genocidal maniacs like Cortez, and while his desire to rob the bank was understandable, even laudable, we have collectively decided not to support such actions, and resources were available to him.
That’s when he hit me in the head with the butt of his gun; I think it was the butt of his gun, anyway. When I woke up, I realized this job was not going to be as easy as I thought it would be. That was just one person, though — one person who is really rich now. But to assume he represented the entire criminal class would have been the height of privilege, right? And after all, it’s only money and a slight concussion.
The next day went remarkably better. I was called to a gang fight that was about to get very heated. No guns this time, just knives and brass knuckles. I suggested we all sit in a circle and use a feelings chart to determine what had brought us all to that place. I did not, of course, suggest that why I was there was for some inherently better or more virtuous purpose, and I think they really got it! They stopped fighting each other and stole my wallet, instead. Progress.
It was yesterday, my third day on the job, when things really got dicey. There were reports of revolutionary redistribution of corporate assets, which used to go by the patently racist name “looting.” I consulted my Rapid Response Social Worker app, and it advised me to start gently chanting, “Hope is the thing with feathers.” Dickinson. It’s a technique that was developed in Denmark to deescalate harmful situations with poetry.
The rest is a blur. There were a few baseball bats to the legs. A large glass bottle of something sticky, organic maple syrup maybe, was smashed on my head. People were kicking me in the ribs, and I saw a few people fighting over a Ralph Lauren down comforter they were stealing.   I mean redistributing.  The comforter ripped, there was chaos everywhere, and when I woke up in the ambulance, well, I was the thing with feathers.
This morning when I woke up, my supervisor was right there next to my bed. I thought maybe he had brought flowers or one of those shiny balloons from the hospital gift shop. But actually he had a long complaint form, detailing the ways in which I had failed in my job and failed the collective community. I was still kind of groggy. I didn’t catch it all, but something about a failure to recognize and ameliorate systems of oppression. Which, I mean, yeah probably.
I’m not giving up though. Nobody said this would be easy. They also didn’t say it would put me in the ICU, but that’s beside the point. We are creating a better world — one where police, the real criminals, no longer exist, and more equitable forms of community support for need-based compelled law suggestion can thrive. Are we there yet? No, but once I’m out of the hospital and off suspension, I’ll be right back to work making America a better place

[F2d5thCav]

I mentioned on ATS my notion that abolishing police forces would bring back the older practice of gangs of private watchmen.  If people think they have problems holding the police accountable, just wait . . .

That story, btw, was a real butt-kicker (wink)

Cheers

[hounddoghowlie]

I mentioned on ATS my notion that abolishing police forces would bring back the older practice of gangs of private watchmen.  If people think they have problems holding the police accountable, just wait . . .

That story, btw, was a real butt-kicker (wink)

Cheers

that may happen for a while, but to be more realistic. the gangs will start taking on those people, and more and more everyday folks (private watchmen, neighborhood watch) will start to leave.
also during this, the ones that will be doing the policing will be the county sheriffs departments, who will at first try to control the gangs, and more so the  (private watchmen, neighborhood watch) who will be more compliant than the street gangs and will listen to law enforcement before packing up. as more and more law abiding people leave the the street gangs will have more and more turf wars and the sheriffs departments will go to more containing the gangs in the areas they are in.

in the end, the areas will become so depressed, very little goods and services will be available to the street gangs and they to will leave the areas. some may turn from the street life others won't and start to pray on the law abiders once again.

the chaz/chop zones is a perfect example of what i'm saying.

[TheDoctor46]

That's one hell of a start for a new job.  I think i would duck on that particular career. I do agree with you. If you did away with the police,  Gangs would step in which you can understand to protect the communities . And free for all chaos would he happening. Total nightmare!!!

[Sol]

Hell, why not go back in time and make all forces "bobbies" again, like they used to have back then..walking around with their whistles and batons...

Like the great (and missed) Robin Williams used to say about a police officer running after a felon.."STOP! or I'll say STOP again!!..."


Post-police era is a nightmare no one wants to go through..JMO.

[Mystic Wanderer]

Good story @"727Sky", and I think that's pretty close to exactly how it would be without police.
If the criminal-minded don't respect the police, they sure as heck aren't going to respect a "social worker".

I think it was a good thing for all the democrat controlled cities to allow their citizens to see how it would be without police. I'm talking about the CHAZ example, and all the destruction that happened to their city, and other cities across the country, when the mayors told the police to stand down.

The majority of people don't want to live in a world without police. I know the MSM tells us otherwise, but they are FAKE NEWS! What people want is to get back to a law-abiding community where people can feel safe and let their kids play outside without fear of them being stolen or shot.

Defunding the police is not the answer; it shouldn't even be a question.

[F2d5thCav]

Gang activity might prompt a return to old West solutions.

"Iron marshals" (example: Wyatt Earp)

Posses

Texas Rangers

Might even see some "hanging judges" again.

Or just outright martial law.

Cheers

[727Sky]

Gang activity might prompt a return to old West solutions.

"Iron marshals" (example: Wyatt Earp)

Posses

Texas Rangers

Might even see some "hanging judges" again.

Or just outright martial law.

Cheers

West Texas mostly lime stone cliffs and sparsely covered hills stood a lone tree. It was 1930 (something) and the tree was called the hangman's tree and still is to this very day. One cowboy thought he could steal a very valuable bull but was tracked down by some of the local ranchers. He was caught with the bull and hung. They left his body hanging until the buzzards had done their job as a warning to other thieves. The bull returned to his harem and was happy the rest of his life.. No one remembers the thief's name...

[Ninurta]

Like the great (and missed) Robin Williams used to say about a police officer running after a felon.."STOP! or I'll say STOP again!!..."

Perhaps if the officer says "STOP!" more sternly the second time, it may have greater effect...


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