5 ms·

It’s not necessarily a good slogan if you live in a high crime area, where better or more policing might be highly desired. At least in the press, people callin

It’s not necessarily a good slogan if you live in a high crime area, where better or more policing might be highly desired. At least in the press, people calling for the defunding of the police were often co-located with some of the more violent riots of the last few years. I can appreciate that there are arguments to suggest that this is a false comparison. However, it must be admitted that the slogan was confusing and divisive, whereas not all issues around policing were nearly as divisive. (For example, there was broad support, and rightly so, for the jury verdict in the George Floyd case. )

kmonsen 5y ago
Everywhere in the US is a high enough crime area that people need the police to feel safe.
- jimmygrapes 5y ago
  Why?
  - kmonsen 5y ago
    I have lived in NYC and Bay area. Both times safe places in those areas. And sure I have never seen a crime happen. But very close to me (like 15 min of walking), there are major armed crimes happening. There are enough guns and people willing to use them in this country that it is just not safe without the police. There are many reasons for this, I probably agree with most of them, but until they are all solved we need the police. I grew up in Norway, did not feel like this there at all. Of course crime does still exist, but I would not care how far it was to my local police station. Also lived in the UK, felt very safe compared to the US.
- crawfordcomeaux 5y ago
  A feeling of safety comes from within. Establishing a brutal traumatizing system that isn't oriented toward healing doesn't create a culture of safety, but of emotional codependence on violence.
  - asgraham 5y ago
    "A feeling of safety comes from within." --- This is an actively counterproductive statement. Just look at the impetus behind "defund the police": the real police violence causes people of color to feel unsafe. On the flipside, crime often involves real violence that makes people feel unsafe. You can argue that policing isn't the answer to crime, but real danger is the root of feeling unsafe, even if (like everything) it is mediated by perception. A "culture of safety" must be rooted in a reality of safety.

kmonsen 5y ago

Everywhere in the US is a high enough crime area that people need the police to feel safe.

jimmygrapes 5y ago
Why?
- kmonsen 5y ago
  I have lived in NYC and Bay area. Both times safe places in those areas. And sure I have never seen a crime happen. But very close to me (like 15 min of walking), there are major armed crimes happening. There are enough guns and people willing to use them in this country that it is just not safe without the police. There are many reasons for this, I probably agree with most of them, but until they are all solved we need the police. I grew up in Norway, did not feel like this there at all. Of course crime does still exist, but I would not care how far it was to my local police station. Also lived in the UK, felt very safe compared to the US.
crawfordcomeaux 5y ago
A feeling of safety comes from within. Establishing a brutal traumatizing system that isn't oriented toward healing doesn't create a culture of safety, but of emotional codependence on violence.
- asgraham 5y ago
  "A feeling of safety comes from within." --- This is an actively counterproductive statement. Just look at the impetus behind "defund the police": the real police violence causes people of color to feel unsafe. On the flipside, crime often involves real violence that makes people feel unsafe. You can argue that policing isn't the answer to crime, but real danger is the root of feeling unsafe, even if (like everything) it is mediated by perception. A "culture of safety" must be rooted in a reality of safety.