The First Step Is Figuring Out What Police Are For

It is sadly ironic that the United States, which claims to be devoted to democratic governance through the rule of law, has a long tradition of policing through force. It is important to understand that this tradition is not the product of a conscious and deliberative articulation of what Americans believe the connection between the police and the community ought to look like; rather, the shape of this often-violent arm of the state, which brown and black citizens disproportionately come into regular contact with, has evolved through a series of informal arrangements for managing immediate problems of disorder.

If America is to move beyond its troubled and conflict-laden relationship with its police, it must have a broader, serious discussion This is a moment for such a discussion. The crime rate has for several years now been at historically low levels. The costs of police-community conflict are once again clear. And in an era of shrinking municipal budgets, the costs of America’s current style of policing have major effects on the ability of communities to provide other necessary public goods that are building blocks of vitality. For this discussion to be successful, it must involve the meaningful participation of all the people in America’s communities.