There's a part where Williams compares how cops respond to police abuse and police brutality with the same rhetoric and patterns of response that abusers do to instances of abuse

again, little surprise that cops have the highest rates of domestic abuse

Let's be real, my entire live-toot of Our Enemies in Blue will have a general CW for all the various violences that are associated with and done by the police.

"Policing, it seems, is the only profession that both exaggerates and advertises its dangers... the overblown image of police heroism, and the 'obsession' with officer safety... do not only serve to justify police violence after the fact; by providing such justification, they legitimize violence, and thus make it more likely."

I really like this book but unfortunately its not changing my mind about cops - I already hate them

Why would "the state (meaning, here, the civil authorities)... let the police claim the means of violence as their own[?] Police brutality does not just happen; it is allowed to happen. It is tolerated by the police themselves, those on the street and those in command...

But why?

The answer is simple: police brutality is tolerated because it is what people with power want."

"When the police enforce the law, they do so unevenly, in ways that give disproportionate attention to the activities of poor people, people of color, and others near the bottom of the social pyramid. And when the police violate the law, these same people are their most frequent victims... It must become quite clear that the object of police attention, and the target of police violence, is overwhelmingly that portion of the population that lacks real power."

"So long as the police defend the status quo, so long as their actions promote the stability of the existing system, their misbehavior is likely to be overlooked. It is when their excesses threaten this stability that they begin to face meaningful restraints... Token prosecutions, minimal reforms, and other half-measures may give the appearance of change... but they carefully fail to affect the underlying causes of brutality."

- Our Enemies in Blue by Kristian Williams

Ch. 2 is on the Origins of Policing which I'm p hyped to read about - it's always interesting to see how and where people/scholars/writers place the origin point of policing

One of the most important things (to me) when discussing the police and how they developed into what they are today is how there are like.. two historical trajectories - one out of England (practiced on Irish people and def colonial) and one out of the US specifically designed to further subjugate enslaved black people

historicizing matters, y'all

"The creators of the new police did not see themselves as marching inexorably towards an ideal of modern policing. Instead, they adapted preexisting institutions to the demands of new circumstances, evolving their systems slowly through a process of intervention and imitation... its direction determined by a variety of factors including political pressure, scandals, wars, riots, economics, immigration, budget constraints, the law, and sometimes crime."

So in the computer lab just now, two men in their 30s - one black, one Filipino - were getting into verbal altercations and calling each other various homophobic and racist slurs, and another patron (white man) wanted me to call security on them, but luckily i knew both of their names and was able to be like "hey is everything okay? oh really, y'all are chill? can y'all not use that language in the library AND keep your voices down?"

and just like that they apologized to each other and the situation diffused.

so there was no need to call security (or if the situation had escalated, the police) and its just lucky I knew their names

and I *wish* that it could be a ~teachable~ moment to tell ppl about how words are violent etc etc but i know both patrons and one is perhaps not at his full capacity/in need of more support than I can give so really the best thing to do is remind him to just keep his voice down, that's all

anyways i say all of this as a way to explain how the act of "calling security" should be avoided at all costs

nobody was in danger in this situation, people were just uncomfortable. everyone should feel comfortable in the library but also nobody should be punished by security for being loud in the library (loud and saying slurs)

Being a police/prison abolitionist isn't just a trendy cool thing and its certainly not a "I'm More Radical Than You" position to hold just for the hell of it

You have to be dedicated to harm reduction and taking on the responsibility of being a neutralizing force in the face of conflict, and knowing that calling security/cops can actually increase harm, trauma, etc

It doesn't have to be "don't call the cops and feel frozen and scared"

And everyone's participation in de-escalation or diffusing tension/conflict is going to vary based on their individual needs/capabilities

But we should all feel dedicated to harm reduction and taking care of each other and the people around us

WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WORLDS WE CONSTITUTE

"Relying on a slave economy, the American South faced unique problems of social control, especially in areas where White people were in the minority. Regardless of their own economic class or ethnic background, White people were haunted by the prospect of a slave revolt. They became utterly obsessed with controlling the lives of Black people, free and slave, and developed a deep and terrible fear of any unsupervised activity in which Black people might engage."

- Our Enemies in Blue

"Faced with the difficulties of keeping a major portion of the population enslaved to a small elite, Southern society borrowed from the practices of the Caribbean, especially Barbados. There, slave owners used professional slave catchers and militias to capture runaways, while overseers were responsible for maintaining order on the plantations. The weaknesses of this system led to the creation of slave codes, laws directed specifically to the governing of slaves."

^the first thing I thought of was KRS-One saying "OVERSEER OVERSEER OVERSEEROVERSEEROFFICER"

"The overseer rode around the plantation
The officer is off patrolling all the nation
The overseer could stop you what you're doing
The officer will pull you over just when he's pursuing
The overseer had the right to get ill
And if you fought back, the overseer had the right to kill
The officer has the right to arrest
And if you fight back they put a hole in your chest!"

@mooncake
For the full picture, don't forget the other vector, which is strike breaking. The history of the police is probably the most important/accessible intersection of colonialism, racism, and classism

@derpayatz unsure if Williams will address this but yes you're totally right!

@mooncake modern policing also has ties to strike breakers and union busting as well.

@mooncake on an unrelated note, it pisses me off that cops are often in the local library like a guard
Like
No one is going to steal free books, why are they even there?

.@captainRust cops are there in the library to harass and intimidate homeless folks, thats why
(or at least thats what happens in oakland)

@mooncake ah fuck that