Police Reform
BIPOC communities are by far the most impacted by police violence. The justice system has been used systematically to infringe on the liberties of these individuals and impose a modern caste system.
Understanding Anti-Police Movements
People are often times put off by the movement known as ACAB which stands for “All Cops are Bastards” because they see the strong language as antagonistic. Statements like “defund the police” can often times make priveldged people uneasy and fear a slippery slope into anarchism and crime. But the root of the idology that most supporters agree on is that the current system of policing in America is broken. It promotes violence not as a last resort but as a standard tactic. It does not provide resources or proper training to assist those with mental illness or intellectual disabilty.
Why Involving the Police can be Harmful
- The police may end up escalating the danger and violence of a situation.
- Attempts to help victims may end up getting them arrested or detained such as those with mental health issues or sex workers
Examples of Systems
Baltimore, MD was able to decrease homicide rades in 2024 to only 5 total after Mayor Brandon Scott was able to address violent crime as a public health issue. Rather than focusing on punative arrests, he worked proactively to prevent the violence from occuring in the community. He was able to accomplish this by address poverty, mental health, and housing issues. His program that provided life coaching and financial support saw a recitivism rate of only 4.3%
De-escalation tacticssuch as the Green Dot method provide useful training methods to allow bystanders to provide safety in their community without needing police intervention. You can take their training courses or read about methods such as the 5D’s of descalation.
Crisis Intervention Teams are trained mental health professionals who can step in to help assist those in a crisis while lessening police involvement Mobile response teams are able to lessen the trauma of those in crisis and prevent unnecessary psychiatric hospitalizations. There are various resources by state that can be found at NAMI.