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Interesting and surprising if this happens. Note that they're just announcing their intent to disband, it's not an actual vote, but there's some pretty strong l
by drunkpotato 6y ago
Interesting and surprising if this happens. Note that they're just announcing their intent to disband, it's not an actual vote, but there's some pretty strong language here. The article also notes the mayor is opposed to disbanding.
I would rather see police reforms and a rethinking of priorities than disbanding police altogether. But if it happens (a big if) perhaps Minneapolis will provide a rare natural experiment.
- BrianHenryIE 6y ago> I would rather see police reforms and a rethinking of priorities Why? Surely any new policing entity will entail the philosophy of reform and keeping the rotten part around would be detrimental.
- rightbyte 6y agoI would argue that it is hard to have a much less rotten police force than the city in general. It seems quite crime ridden from the statistics. Maybe if you draft the policemen from other areas or cities?
- babygoat 6y agoRoughly 5% of the Minneapolis police actually live in Minneapolis. Maybe they should have hired from within the community instead.
- drunkpotato 6y agoPerhaps it is just me being less pessimistic about human nature. I think as an institution policing needs reform, but it can happen in a more gradual way. Not everyone in a bad system is a bad person, and people are remarkably morally flexible under pressure to fit in. Improve the institution and I believe you can improve the people inside it. I admit that with the surprising, to me, deplorable recent behavior of the Buffalo PD, I am more sympathetic to the idea of total replacement. So I’m interested to see whether this goes anywhere in Minneapolis.
- xendo 6y agoThis experiment is indeed rare and very interesting. I hope they will gather data during and after the transformation so that other cities can make more informed decisions in the future.