Kwame Holmes is Scholar-In-Residence at the Human Rights Project at Bard College and a contributor to Kingston Resilience Group's Neighborhood Pods initiative. Follow him on Twitter @KwameHolmes.
Why Abolish the Police?
When you first heard about the movement to abolish the police, did something clench up inside? Same here. Many find the notion bewildering, unthinkable: How would society function? In defense, we step back from that abyss of uncertainty and erect a wall of rationality. "Abolishing the police is crazy," we assure ourselves, in an unsettling echo of the president's Twitter feed. At our most charitable, we afford the concept a rash idealism made understandable by the narcotic effects of marches and tear gas. Inevitably though, we settle for the "undeniable reality" that abolishing the police is "impossible" and that we must "first" try reform.
But perhaps we've got it backwards. New York State has just repealed law 50-a, a landmark victory for open government and police reform advocates. In its wake, citizens can use Freedom of Information requests to study an officer's disciplinary record. Unfortunately, robust transparency laws in Illinois have failed to significantly reduce police violence in Chicago. Eric Garner lost his life in 2014 to a chokehold the NYPD outlawed in the 1990s. Nine hours of de-escalation training did not deter Rayshard Brooks's killer from reaching for his gun after failing to apprehend a fleeing suspect. Body cameras lack the authority to prevent officers from turning them off.
Read the rest at the Chronogram:
Read the rest at the Chronogram:
https://www.chronogram.com/hudsonvalley/why-abolish-the-police/Content?oid=10857512