Home of the Free Come on people, cant we agree that America is one of the most heavily policed societies in the world? Theres a reason, you know, that the United States with about 5% of the worlds population, has 25% of the worlds population of incarcerated citizens. Youd think this center-right nation that cherishes individual freedom so would be more aware of its own over policing and over militarization, but... that all just seems to be a central feature in this society of the ideological sanctity of property and capital. Come as it may. Overpolicing has been a problem in America long before the police shootings of Michael Brown in Ferguson and 12 year old Tamir Rice and the strangulation of Eric Garner. Law enforcement’s daily harassment of citizens for petty offenses especially in communities of color and the poor is an accepted part of life in America. We hardly notice anymore... even when those enclaves and our own finance themselves more and more on the fines and penalties they levy on their citizens. All thanks to the conservative bias against adequate taxation. Not surprisingly, high on the list of demands issues at one Ferguson community forum was an end to the “overpolicing and criminalization of poverty,” an amnesty for old unpaid warrants, new fines proportioned to income and a state law capping municipal revenue from court fees at 10 percent. (Terrified by the Ferguson unrest, the city of St. Louis decided to eliminate 220,000 open arrest warrants for traffic violations last month.) The feeling of being under occupation by an armed force that cares more about meeting revenue quotas than public security corrodes all trust in law enforcement, and is the sort of environment in which police are more likely to open fire. As police and prosecutors assume more and more power in the United States—regulating immigration (formerly a matter of administrative law), meting out school discipline, and other spheres of everyday life where criminal law was almost unknown even a generation ago—getting law enforcement on a tight leash is a national imperative. In the meantime, the constant stream of news reports of unarmed, mostly black and Latino civilians killed by police demands bigger, bolder approaches. More sensitivity training for police forces is not going to be the answer. A national effort to change the nature of law enforcement is sorely needed. This is just another area that is destined to be ignored and neglected because of the conservative animus toward the federal government.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 13:23:10 +0000
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