The police were not created to protect and serve the population. They were not created to stop crime, at least not as most people understand it. And they were certainly not created to promote justice. They were created to protect the new form of wage-labor capitalism that emerged in the mid- to late-19th century from the threat posed by that system’s offspring, the working class. source
Criminological data has told us for decades that police are irrelevant for public safety. Other data tells us a lot about what does influence safety. British researchers Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in their classic 2009 book The Spirit Level show that a large number of social problems, including violence, correlate strongly with inequality. Their work also shows different options for achieving equality: high wages by private employers (as in Japan) or high taxes and redistribution (as in Northern Europe). In the United States, every option for increased equality has been blocked by the wealthy who have—as Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page make clear in their important 2014 study—captured politics. source
If a majority of your population decided to overthrow your government, who would the police side with? That’s your answer.
If the police would side with the average citizen, then your society is egalitarian. But, if your police would side with the government and billionaires, then it is authoritarian.
When fascism comes to Europe, and the fascists are elected to office, and they legislate laws that are contradictory to the public, who will enforce those fascist laws enacted by the state?
The police.
When the fascists make laws against protesting, against workers striking, how does the state enforce these laws?
The police.
Understand the police are an extension of the state (the government). As the state becomes more fascist, police are employed to enforce this fascism.
I can’t comprehend your comments. I have demonstrated, with sources, the relationship between capitalism and policing, repeatedly. You refuse to acknowledge that relationship, responding with, “but police are friends.” Feelings aren’t an appropriate defense of the purpose and existence of an apparatus of the state, despite the friendly policeman down the street.
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If a majority of your population decided to overthrow your government, who would the police side with? That’s your answer.
If the police would side with the average citizen, then your society is egalitarian. But, if your police would side with the government and billionaires, then it is authoritarian.
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This is specific to the United States, but it will also apply as fascism rises in Europe.
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When fascism comes to Europe, and the fascists are elected to office, and they legislate laws that are contradictory to the public, who will enforce those fascist laws enacted by the state?
The police.
When the fascists make laws against protesting, against workers striking, how does the state enforce these laws?
The police.
Understand the police are an extension of the state (the government). As the state becomes more fascist, police are employed to enforce this fascism.
deleted by creator
I can’t comprehend your comments. I have demonstrated, with sources, the relationship between capitalism and policing, repeatedly. You refuse to acknowledge that relationship, responding with, “but police are friends.” Feelings aren’t an appropriate defense of the purpose and existence of an apparatus of the state, despite the friendly policeman down the street.