Why Do We Call the Police?

[Nevilledog]

https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/booked-why-do-we-call-the-police

In Becoming Abolitionists, Purnell charts how she went from calling 911 “for almost everything” to fighting for the end of prisons and police. Purnell is a human rights lawyer, writer, and organizer. She monitored police with the National Lawyers Guild and the Black Movement-Law Project in Baltimore during the protests after Freddie Gray’s murder in 2015 and has joined uprising crowds everywhere from Ferguson to Capetown. When we spoke, she was at Howard University to support the student sit-in against poor housing conditions. Her book—part memoir, part essay, and part argument—is an organizing tool itself, inviting in skeptics and offering a bridge to committed activists in other movements.

Lyra Walsh Fuchs: What, if anything, has surprised you about the conversations you’ve been having about the book? Is there anything you wish that you included that you didn’t?

Derecka Purnell: I have all these very specific ideas about what a transition could look like, and I went back and forth about including them, because I didn’t want the book to be read as “This is what we need to do to build an abolitionist world.” I really do believe in organizing collectively. I believe that we get to decide what that transition looks like, so I had to resist the temptation of writing, “We should start by doing this, and then we should do this, and then we should do this."

What I did put on the table was, “We should explore why people are calling 911, and build relationships with those people to figure out if we can reduce their reliance.” And, “We should start removing resources from the police as we’re building the world that we want, because the police are going to sabotage the work that we’re going to do. We should fight for sweeping policy changes.” Some people who I’ve been in conversations with want to be told an answer so badly, and I think, “I should’ve just said it.” But, there’s not just one answer, and that’s what I think is so exciting about the abolitionist project.

I also didn’t realize how many people wanted to hear more about parenting, and the conversations I have with my children about abolition.

*snip*

[cinematicdiversions]

1. "calling 911 "for almost everything" "

I would be surprised if I have called 911 more than once a decade.

If people are calling 911 that often there must be extraordinary circumstances involved.

That said abolishing the police is a lunatic idea that leads to a lot more black deaths than the police on thier worst day could muster.

In fact, the recent police slowdown has managed to result in the death of way more black youths (by a factor of thousands) than the protests were about in the first place.

[Dorian Gray]

5. Yeah

I've called 911 four times in my life.

1) Prank call when I was 10. They called back and I got in trouble by my parents.

2) When I witnessed a car chasing and hitting another car on a highway. I was in another country and called the equivalent (999) and gave a description.

3) When my cab was hit by a speeding car coming off a bridge into manhattan. A pedestrian was killed in the accident. We called 911 immediately,.

4) When my oven caught on fire years ago.

Other than the first time, they were all real emergencies where people were/could be hurt.

I would call in a heartbeat if someone was breaking into my home or if I was witnessing a violent crime.

I would not call bc i felt uncomfortable in a situation, though. An actual crime would have to be committed.

I've experienced all sorts of arguments and harassment on trains etc. Don't call for that. I may intervene if I think it's safe. But 911 is for emergencies and NOT to make you feel safe or comfortable.

[The Magistrate]

7. That 'Factor Of Thousands', Sir, Needs Some Backing....

One presumes you do not mean an increase of one thousand times, as the words indicate.

If you are stating there have been thousands more murders of black youths, and that this is a result of police 'slow-down', both elements need some backing. A mere increase in number will not do, unless you can establish the causation claimed.

[cinematicdiversions]

8. The numbers.

716 civilians having been shot by police, 111 of whom were Black, as of October 2021.

The increase in murders of African American men this year dwarfs that 111 number.

But you are correct it may be less than a 11,100 increase.

[The Magistrate]

9. And The Causation, Sir?

You can demonstrate, beyond some self-serving swill from a police union or like source, that any increase in murders, whether of black men or others, for that matter, results from some diminution of police activity?

There are two things which grind in this matter.

First, police should pose no risk to persons who are not engaged criminal behavior.

Second, police who do behave abusively should face serious consequences, such a removal from the profession, even time in prison in many instances.

Unfortunately, neither of these things can reliably be expected. Until they can be, you will find people reluctant to notify police where they are not absolutely certain a crime is in progress.

[Klaralven]

2. I've never called 911

I've never witnessed a crime in progress or been the first on the scene at an accident or medical emergency.

[leftyladyfrommo]

3. You can call 911 gere in KCMO but they don't come

For run of the mill theft or break ins. You have to call those in to report them. There are too many and they can't get there fast enough.

Response time in my area is 11 minutes.

[BeerBarrelPolka]

4. Sadly

11 minutes is about the average response time.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. K&R. Cannot waaaaaait to get my hands on this book.