There’s a lengthy “project” by the editors of the Washington Post that makes their argument for deemphasizing police forces in favor of a broader notion of fostering public safety that I agree with in some ways, disagree with in other ways, and think makes a combination of category errors, unsupported claims, and false analogies. It stretches on for page after page and is hard to excerpt but here’s a sample passage:
We should think about public safety the way we think about public health. No one would suggest that hospitals alone can keep a population healthy, no matter how well run they might be. A healthy community needs neighborhood clinics, health education, parks, environments free of toxins, government policies that protect the public during health emergencies, and so much more. Health isn’t just about hospitals; safety isn’t just about police.
More apples-to-apples comparisons would be to say “no one would suggest that police stations alone can enforce the law” or “no one would suggest physicians alone can keep a population healthy” and I agree with both of those statements. In the case of public health we rely not just on physicians but on a wide array of other professionals and, most importantly, personal responsibility and institutions.
The same is true of public safety. In addition to police officers there are firefighters, building inspectors, air traffic controllers, and who knows how many other people who all play roles in safer streets and safer cities but a cursory search for information will reveal that the primary responsibility for public safety is on individual people. Are the editors trying to envision a world without personal responsibility and in which the only institutions are government agencies? It sure sounds like it.
Police departments are responsible for enforcing the law. Full stop. Legislators and executives enact laws which are in turn enforced by police officers and the courts.
Here in the city of Chicago over the last year or so we have seen an enormous spike in violent crime including carjackings. Homicides are almost twice what they were in 2019 and carjackings have more than doubled—we’ll probably have three times as many carjackings in Chicago in 2021 as we did in 2019 (603). While the rate at which violent crimes has risen the resolution rate has plummeted. I honestly don’t know how you can blithely assert, as the editors do, that victims of homicide almost always know their killers when the clearance rate is below 50% and the resolution rate lower than that.
I would also add that the number of social workers and crisis intervention professionals has skyrocketed without reducing the amount of violent crime. In other words there’s a disconnect between reality and what they propose.
We have social workers and crisis intervention professionals. When you come home and are faced with burglars robbing your house or gunfire is ringing through your neighborhood, who are you going to call? A crisis intervention professional or the police department?
Unseasonably violent here. Not a lot of shooting deaths, but apparently shots fired at legs or indiscriminately into crowds. When the victims are asked for a statement, they know nothing. Police say that the victims know the shooters but intend to handle justice in their own fashion.
Also appears that the pop-up parties migrated inside shuttered businesses over the winter. One such recent shooting (four shot, one fatally) was followed by complaints from nearby (presumably) black business owners that had repeatedly complained to the police about the parties there.
Local politicians and community leaders gathered outside later that week to call for an end to violence. The leader of the local and state NAACP called for employers to help get kids off the streets and into classrooms and eventually into jobs. I’m not sure why “employers” are to be engaged, its the teachers that don’t want to leave home unless its to go to Florida for Spring Break.
The alderman for the ward with that shooting was caught instigating a fight and beating down some dude. Its on the internet some where. The mayor applauded the alderman for being a man and using his fists, and not resorting to knives or guns. The police union issued a press release complaining about the pro-violent message, pointing out that police use of force has been scrutinized more than the alderman’s conduct, which was a felony (because it took place on a public way, I think).
In any event, all these pieces have been floating around for at least a year: historical increases in violence, black victims of violence and of damage to their homes/businesses, obtuse media captured by progressive narratives of police-blame, an incompetent or frightened police force, and any other people who could help like teachers are fragile, albeit vaccinated, creatures.
Who you gonna call?
That’s not an either or. Families dealing with schizophrenic relatives or disruptive 12 year old’s should be given a hearing by 911 before sending SWAT. Training, listening skills, and discretion are paramount.
So are limits on civil litigation if citizens don’t really want the full Monte when they call 911.
To some degree that’s my point. Most jurisdictions of any significant size already have crisis intervention teams. The editors are either unaware of that or are proposing something different.
“When you come home and are faced with burglars robbing your house or gunfire is ringing through your neighborhood, who are you going to call? ”
Kind of a strawman here. I dont know anyone who seriously suggests calling someone other than the police for this kind of stuff. OK, I am sure you find a couple of whackjobs but no one who is serious and should be taken seriously. The obvious case is the mentally ill person for whom they now call the police. A lot of areas have crisis intervention bbq they may not have it at night and the services are often not funded well so they dont have enough to cover the urgent calls. I did that kind of work for a while.
Steve
They’re not well-funded because they’re spending so much money on past public employees (including retired police officers). State and local governments don’t have the option of just issuing themselves credit. If they’re not growing (as is the case in Illinois), fewer people are paying those pensions.
The implication is that you must make choices. To pay for more of something you must pay for less of something else. So, not a strawman argument.
The straw man part is suggesting calling anyone other than police when there is a shooting or burglary in process.
Steve