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As someone that lives in Oakland, I don't see much of a difference in terms of quality of life between when the police were beating people or killing people at

As someone that lives in Oakland, I don't see much of a difference in terms of quality of life between when the police were beating people or killing people at BART stations compared to the extended amount of time we've lacked a police chief and the police as a whole basically disappeared. I'm white, so the interaction with society during the completely corrupt OPD wasn't really ever a concern for me. I expect plenty of black residents are much happier now than they were then. I don't see MORE crime now than before, and I don't expect the police to ever show up if I call. So, disbanding the police force isn't necessarily going to equate to complete and total anarchy. Most people don't break the law because we want to exist within the social contract that's established. Police can help enforce that contract, but they're not strictly required.

jeffdavis 6y ago
I agree that police are the last line of defense rather than the first. Many places would be quite peaceful without police, though it might depend on the timeframe. Bad actors can do an awful lot of damage, and you really don't want Hobbesian traps to develop[1]. Once they do, you'll start to have very fond memories of the police. If disbanding police forces makes it very far in the political discourse, then gun control will be dead as a concept in the U.S. Even felons (who have served their time) have some rights, and without police to protect them, it would be inhumane to deny them self-defense. It's arguably inhumane even with police. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbesian_trap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbesian_trap