It’s time to reimagine what the police do

After the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis cops, I received many messages from non-Black friends saying “What can I do? How can I help?”

This is common for Black folks.

I also received many after Eric Garner, after Terrence Crutcher, and others. The outpouring of support provides some comfort from the daily trauma of police violence, but it’s overwhelming to be centered for advice on cleaning up a mess we didn’t create.

Police violence is an abusive relationship. The truth is denied, excuses are made, then they do it again. We work up the courage to speak out and then someone positioned in the so-called center says we should come together; as if the abuser and the victim are simply differences of opinion. After all, having a nightmare is terrible but living through one is worse. Maybe it’s better to put the issue to bed, move on — then they do it again.

When does enough actually become enough? With the groundswell of protests against police violence, could change finally be upon us? Who knows?

However, what I certainly know is that employing the same failed ideas won’t change anything. As the saying goes “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Following the protests, a set of police reforms circulated on the internet called “8 Can’t Wait”. Many celebrities quickly shared them; they include banning chokeholds and requiring warning before shooting, among others.

They all sound sensible and familiar — that’s because many departments already train officers to do them, including the Minneapolis Police Department. Our own Mayor Buddy Dyer, who’s been in office since 2003, even tweeted about #8CantWait claiming the “[Orlando Police Department] already adheres to all eight of those through policy and training.” If that’s true then why does OPD have a long history of excessive force?

The answer is these policies are a failure of liberation. Victims shouldn’t have to reduce their abuse, we should be ending their abuse. Police reforms allow for a cuddlier view of law enforcement where the public doesn’t live through the nightmare, but instead go back to sleep.

What many don’t know is that policing in America evolved from slave patrols. Police originated not for public safety, but rather for the brutal protection of property and racial hierarchy. They were a violent tool for the state: colonialism, slavery, suppression of labor unions and more. Police violence cannot be reformed because police violence is the form.

In the 2017 book “The End of Policing,” Alex Vitale writes: “In both parties, our leaders have embraced neoconservative politics that sees all social problems as police problems. They’ve given up on using government to improve racial and economic inequality and seem hellbent on worsening these inequalities and using the police to manage the consequences.”

The first step to ending police violence is not more training, but rather reducing our reliance on police. We need the courage to reimagine an institution that isn’t at war with the population, but rather committed to public safety for all citizens.

Many folks view police officers as “crime fighters” and the idea of “defunding the police” leaves some with a fear that cities will devolve into lawless chaos. The reality is officers only spend about 4% of their time dealing with violent crime. Yet department budgets have far outpaced population growth and in some cases they receive half of a city’s general fund. Defunding the police is not radical, it is a moral imperative.

In the midst of a global pandemic, it seems as relevant as ever to address this issue. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Budgets are moral documents.” When millions are unemployed and lined up at food banks, do we believe it’s morally just for cities to spend so much on policing? When hospitals are running out of ICU beds, is it morally just for police to have the latest in military-grade weaponry? When nurses are literally wearing garbage bags in order to care for COVID-19 patients, is it morally just for cops to be outfitted like an Avenger?

For this moment to create any change, we must not fall for the symbolic gestures that amount to nothing more than a public-relations campaign to soften the police’s image. We need to realize that not every problem of society is a police problem.

The most marginalized among us aren’t interested in cops kneeling at protests then teargassing protesters (and journalists) moments later. You cannot say “Black lives matter” in public art while making no changes in public policy and expect people not to be outraged. We’re way past platitudes masquerading as change. Real concessions from the people in power must occur. Our leaders need to read the room and meet the moment.