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Verso has also made the ebook edition of Alex Vitale’s excellent “The End of Policing” free: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2426-the-end-of-policing https://

Verso has also made the ebook edition of Alex Vitale’s excellent “The End of Policing” free: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2426-the-end-of-policing https://www.versobooks.com/books/2426-the-end-of-policing TLDR: any society which refuses to provide social democratic floors to people will increasingly rely on violence to maintain its social order. You can’t expect policing to be the primary means with which we deal with things like the housing and healthcare crisis without disastrous consequences.

thephyber 6y ago
> You can’t expect policing to be the primary means with which we deal with things like ... I don't buy this argument because it removes agency from law enforcement officers, who -- as a class of people -- very highly buy into the concept of free will. Right now, police departments have a significant amount of moral hazard. They are expected to behave in a very legal and upright manner, but not all do and those who don't are very rarely held legally or civilly liable. I think doing something like removing qualified immunity (or at the very least just giving DAs tools and directives to prosecute more egregious use of force problems) or putting more of the police officers' wealth at risk (by tying their retirement programs to the funds which pay out for violations of civilian rights).