zlacker

the cop's autopsy blamed underlying health conditions, unsurprisingly. They'll protect their own at all costs and lie to us in broad daylight. Abolish the police.

>>headsu+(OP)
> Abolish the police.

Or, perhaps, remove qualified immunity.

>>headsu+(OP)
In the GDR (East Germany) during Stalin's period running the Communist bloc, prior to about 1953 they used to execute dissidents using a guillotine in the Stasi basement. The death certificates stated the cause of death as "low blood pressure".

They knew it was wrong, they didn't want to leave any documentary evidence: this is the same bullshit, just closer to home.

>>headsu+(OP)
> Abolish the police.

Ok, I'll entertain the thought, what do you propose to replace it? Free for all deathmatch?

>>headsu+(OP)
I'm sorry if it's a stupid question, but I'm not American and not a native English speaker. What do you mean when you say "Abolish the police"? You think there shouldn't be police at all? Or that it needs a reform? Do you disagree with the idea of having laws? I'm genuinely asking because I'm seeing this phrase more and more now and I'm not sure what people actually mean when they say that.

>>headsu+(OP)
Do you mean all police (detectives, parking enforcement, arson investigators, etc.?) or select divisions within the police? If all police, what do you suggest is it replaced with? A federal police force?

>>headsu+(OP)
The issue is injustice. What alternative to the police is there? Anarchy? Is that going to result in justice? Abolishing the police is not going to fix the issue.

>>mixedC+r1
When people say 'Abolish the police', what they mean is tearing down the entire current institution and reforming it from the bottom-up. The corruption is so deeply embedded that if you try to do anything else, you'll end up right back where we started.

>>cstros+j1
So you're saying the most likely interpretation of the situation is that the minneapolis county medical examiner is like a communist secret police executioner?

>>yoavm+t1
the argument is that there shouldn't be police forces as we know them today -- that the whole issue of crime and punishment should be handled completely differently, with communities organizing themselves to prevent malicious activity. typically this argument goes along with the idea of abolishing prisons as well, and ending incarceration as punishment for crimes.

it's not a completely ridiculous idea -- there have been many societies throughout history that didn't have formal professional police forces, but still had functioning legal systems. it's also particularly appealing in the US because the police and prison systems here have such severe problems and seemingly cannot be reformed.

(unclear whether it could actually work at a large scale in the modern world, but I can see some of the appeal.)

police and prison abolition have also just become buzzwords, so sometimes people just use them to express frustration, or to describe what are really reforms.

>>currym+i4
Thank you very much for this detailed explanation. What societies do you have in mind that had a legal system but no formal policing force? Would be interesting to learn more about it. I remember the concept of police appears even in the bible, so I assumed it was pretty much always there.

>>yoavm+U9
One example is England up until the 19th century, which had a well-established court system but no formal police departments, just unpaid constables, local militias, etc. I think it was probably similar in many other parts of Europe. I'm not an expert on the history by any means, though.

>>gotoel+F3
That's an uncharitable read of that comment

>>jddj+rj
Is that any more uncharitable than cstross's comparison with East Germany?

>>headsu+(OP)
Those particular ones? Sure. In general? That’s laughable. I’ve lived in places like that. The crime rate is sky high. Hell, the city I was born in was once the murder capital of the world.

Only people I’ve ever seen say things like this are people who have never seen what they’re talking about.