Police Abolition Is a Terrible Idea

A lack of police could further deepen existing socioeconomic inequalities. Wealthy Americans would likely just hire their own private security from firms like Pinkerton, and wealthy gated communities could even hire their own private police force. They could potentially even use their private security as a militia to cause further violence or conduct personal vendettas. Middle-class and working-class Americans, meanwhile, would be forced to fend for themselves. Without a professionally screened and trained police force, so many people are at risk of being taken advantage of by private citizens offering 'protection for pay' in communities, a problem that only exacerbates poverty and a lack of safety in a neighborhood. Without the protection of publicly-funded police officers, the average American would be left without protection and further at the whims of the wealthiest among us.

Without the police, the U.S. could revert to a Wild West scenario, in which people round up posses to carry out vigilante justice. Communities, neighborhoods, and even gangs might take it upon themselves to dole out their own form of justice. This kind of vigilante violence would not only be terrifying—it could further increase division between Americans. A professional, well-funded police force ensures we have properly trained police officers to keep order in communities across the country. They are held to the law in a way a civilian or unorganized defense would not be. There are rules both governing what police can do and what police departments can and should do, to protect everyone in question from harm, safety and labor violations, and dangerous criminals. As people draw lines around their immediate communities, tribalism might reemerge, where Americans identify more with a neighborhood or a group of people than with the nation at large. Seattle has already seen a glimpse of what this mob violence might look like. When armed protesters took over the Capitol Hill section of the city, one business owner—Faizel Khan, the proprietor of a coffee shop—described unchecked violence and destruction of property. When he and others called the police, no one came. Khan was forced to seek the permission of the armed protesters just to enter his own coffee shop. “They barricaded us all in here,” he told the New York Times. “And they were sitting in lawn chairs with guns.”

Many criminals flee the scene of the crime and are not apprehended immediately. Especially for crimes such as burglary where there might not be witnesses, it can take weeks or even months to track down a criminal. This is even truer for highly intelligent serial criminals. Serial rapists or murderers often continue committing crimes for years, and only a concentrated effort from the police can stop them. Handling of evidence is even governed by rules and regulations, which do not apply to non-government funded police forces. Overall, on average the police make upwards of 10 million arrests annually.

Law enforcement are uniquely qualified to solve crimes. The average police officer undergoes at least 647 hours of basic training. This is on top of training officers and detectives must undergo at each stage of their careers as well as working with forensic scientists, lawyers, and other experts from who they learn during the course of investigations. In some cases, it can take as long as five to six years to become a fully-fledged police officer. Much of that training teaches police the unique skills and intricate science involved in solving crime, including crime scene handling and the detection of clues. Other branches of law enforcement—such as the FBI or the CSI—undergo even more intense and specialized training that give them the know-how to solve crimes. Conducting complex criminal investigations is a major aspect of law enforcement—and one that police are uniquely suited for. Without government-funded crime labs, forensic scientists, detectives, and the rules and regulations making sure all these processes and procedures are done in a consistent manner, far fewer crimes would be solved. Private police and detectives do not have access to the same technology or bank of experts as central police either. Untrained civilians are simply not capable of doing what law enforcement is trained to do.

Police conduct search and rescue operations in kidnapping cases or when children wander off, do welfare checks on the elderly and mentally ill, and can help remove vulnerable people from situations of domestic violence in their homes. Violent crime is usually defined as homicide, robbery, rape and aggravated assault and actually takes up only a small portion of a police officer's on-shift time. Defunding police would likely lead to more of their other, community-based work taking a hit in addition to putting the community at risk from these violent crimes. Several cities from New Haven, New Orleans, Sacramento, and Seattle have reported that the vast majority of 911 calls involving police have not been violence-related. In fact, only about 4% of a police officer's on duty time is spent involving violent crime. Approximately half of their time is spent responding to non-criminal calls and traffic duty. On a more personal level, police can also do welfare checks on the elderly or disabled members of the community, making them feel less alone and ensuring they are healthy for family members or friends concerned.

Police officers' presence in communities, at coffee shops and neighborhood stores, and talking to students in schools all add to a sense of safety for parents, children, and members of that community. In the absence of other infrastructure, police can rescue cats from trees, be a mentor to troubled youth, or serve as a deterrent from criminal elements entering a community. Police chiefs often have to play the role of community liaison as well, bridging gaps between law enforcement and citizens to better understand each other. Police and sheriff departments, particularly in underfunded or rural areas, often serve as more than just crime busters. Police officers can be important role models for children in a community by going to speak at schools and teaching them early about the law and what safe communities look like. They can serve as a resource for key administrative functions so City Halls and mayors' offices can focus on other substantive matters.