zlacker

Police being unable to do their job in the face of a mob doesn't justify police violence against mobs, it justifies a reform of the law enforcement system sufficient to satisfy society and restore order. The alternative is to suppress civil liberties, which will violate the Constitution. We have had many peaceful days in the past; they can return.

Police are, in fact, given far too many duties. They deal with traffic violations, drunkenness, domestic violence, homelessness, property crimes, public emergencies, and many more things. Most of their time is spent on systemic problems in society that they cannot usefully intervene in, but only obscure with fines, arrests, and talking-to. These are tasks that call for more specialization, and therefore a more stratified set of enforcement tools than the average cop gets.

The system makes the cops bad. We spend a lot on them; several U.S. cities spend more on their police than entire countries do on their military. Spending hasn't changed the outcomes. This is why the term "police abolishment" has come into parlance; a full reform of enforcement requires a larger set of concepts than "police".

>>megame+(OP)
When the mob burns down your city a few nights in a row, the least bad options for breaking up the mob may sometimes be called for. Shit like this can take affected areas decades to recover from.

And yes sometimes cops are just dicks on a power trip.

>>megame+(OP)
> Police are, in fact, given far too many duties

I don't know about the USA but in Ireland the original standing police force ( the RIC ) was responsible for census duties, farm inspections, tax collection and many other rural duties up until the 1920s. What police forces do now, focused on crime, is only a subset of their original conception as servants of the polis ( society ).