From Sapadu's Initiate Journal, Article originally at feministing.com
(linked)
I noticed that the New York City “rape cop” case seemed to cause a shift in the thinking of some feminists, who saw police officers using their position of authority to do violence and basically get away with it. At around the same time, the SlutWalk movement caught on in a big way, inspired by the slut-shaming words of a Toronto police officer. I got the sense a lot of privileged white feminists learned a lesson many people of color, undocumented, poor, and trans folks have known forever: the police are not your friend.
Yes, there are decent people on the police force. But the job of the police is to preserve the status quo. Topeka, Kansas decriminalizing domestic violence is a stark recent example of how much the police and the whole criminal legal system don’t care about sexual violence. And in fact, we’ve seen the worst of this in cops raping a woman and getting away with it. The issue isn’t that there are a few bad cops, or that there are a few good ones. The problem is the institution of the police itself. They’re a force that works for those who are in control to maintain the social order. Anyone working to realize social justice, anyone trying to change an unjust social order, could come up against the police at some moment or another.
This is a lesson many feminists have been slow to learn. Folks who have grown up with the police serving and protecting them understandably think the police work for them. Folks who’ve grown up being harassed by the police – who’ve seen their family members pulled over for no reason, arrested for being in public space, or totally ignored or even charged when they were a victim of a crime – have a different image. When the cops work for you, it seems like a pretty good idea to trust them to serve and protect. When you’ve been a target of the police, you tend to see a different picture. A lot of feminists with more privilege, and therefore a bigger megaphone, have an experience of the police that doesn’t mesh with what more marginalized folks have seen.
Well, this lesson is being put on video, again. Occupy Wall Street is showing us what happens when people stand up against powerful financial institutions. You want to know who the police work for? Watch this video of people being arrested for closing their CitiBank accounts en masse. Including a woman being forced back into the bank by police so they can arrest her:
Every time this sort of police behavior becomes public, I pray something good will come of it. That mainstream, privileged white America, for whom the police work, will wake up and realize what their protectors are doing to the rest of us is beyond any notion of justice or human decency. I was glad to see a white dude make the argument so well on MSNBC recently – maybe the mainstream will remember this:
We’re told to turn to the police when we’re in trouble. But is this force, who will turn against us when we’re threatening those in power, really who we want to trust to respond to injustice? I believe passionately in building community-based responses to harm, in building alternatives that create learning, growth, and change.
Occupy Wall Street is creating an image of a different world, one free from the cruelty of capitalism. We’re seeing that vision clash with the violence of the police. I know I’d like to work towards a world more like the one OWS envisions, not the world the police are defending.
Are recent activist clashes with the police changing your thinking? Do you see this as an issue of reform or much larger cultural change? How can we create a world where we don’t think social order needs to be maintained by police violence?
"Right." Jack mumbled, turning to her characters, "Now's the time to pull out all the stops. Elysia, you're a cop in your story. I expect you've got a few thoughts in your own defense, right?"
The look on Elysia's face said very differently.
'To be honest, I know from later on that the police I play a role with also exist to serve the government, and we just end up as pawns in suppressing a large majority of people in my story. There's even a conspiracy that I end up uncovering... and getting shot for, in pure Orwellian fashion, if you recall.'
Of course Jack recalled -- she'd written it.
'But doesn't the government exist to serve the people, mon ami?' Benedict asked, 'Especially in a government that elects its officials.'
'Allow me to provide a rebuttal.' Kendalina butted in, cueing up an episode of House M.D. and playing the line: "It is a universal truth that EVERYBODY lies." 'Politicians can and will do the same thing. The only variable is about what. Once they're in office, all bets are off. The things that keep them in order are laws in place before they came around and the other politicians, but if you have just the right combination of restriction, relaxed responsibilities and punishments, and similar-minded officials...'
'And, Author, there's also the possibility that, in such a long chain of command, someone is getting paid or blackmailed, or it's otherwise in their interest to order police into immoral action.' Sissy commented as she made her way through Jack's copy of 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest'.
'But some politicians and high-class, privileged men DO get caught and arrested. And they're usually high-profile cases, too, right? John Wayne Gasey? Ted Bundy?'
'Whose cases are usually made into even MORE propaganda -- 'Look, a rich white man was caught and tried! That MUST mean our system is perfect!'' The Count rebutted, earning him a distasteful glare from Ben.
'You're just determined to be cynical, aren't you?'
'I just know how government and power structures work.' The CMC pointed out in a tone of voice that made Ben flush with embarrassment and look away.
"So, the bottom line is..." Jack began, before Solar-san gently interrupted her.
'It's a little hasty to say there is a bottom line, at all. Many things can play a role into this, and the solution may be either simple or complicated. The only thing that can be said for sure is that everyone is a part of it, and it will take everyone to change it.'
Jack sighed, then turned to look at Con, whom she'd originally had this discussion with. He said nothing, content to simply glower at her. But Jack focused more on Silus, Lu, and Tom.
"You guys would probably be the best examples of people who've been on the receiving end of the worst the police force can do. But I do have one question -- how do you go into situations that force you to encounter 'the enemy'? Do you go in with the thought 'If I don't bother them and mind my own business, they'll leave me be' or do you go in thinking 'It's THEM. They can't be trusted. I can't show any weakness to them or they'll take me over to their side and brainwash me.'?"
To their credit, Tom and Lu looked mighty embarrassed at the words Jack had picked.
'It IS hard to interact with someone who we grew up with thinking as being our enemy. At best, we can move past our differences...' Silus nuzzled Con against the cheek, much to Con's chagrin, 'But at worst...'
'So, this isn't just the problem of what is real, it's also a problem of perception, which then leads to the perpetuation of a worsening relationship.' The CMC mused.
"Then, to make things more complicated, it's how to solve a problem that seems to defy identification." Jack cast Sissy a look, as though trying to silently order her to had back the copy of the book she was reading, "We could have a police for police..."
'Also known as 'Internal Affairs.'
"Or a service that does personal investigations and background checks for the police to ensure the orders they're receiving aren't spawned by retaliation from a higher-up or something of the sort." Jack continued, as though Kendalina hadn't interrupted her. She looked around.
'I wonder...' Triclops mumbled, even though he'd mostly kept out of the way, 'Are there any members of a police force that ensign and when they have orders to stop protestors, or make arrests for less than satisfactory reasons, they refuse? Are there any whom would arrest or turn in a fellow officer who commits a crime of their own? After all, the role of the Jedi is to uphold peace and justice, and a branch of that deals with law making and confronting when systems are unjust and must be changed. What would the correct manner for that be?'
Jack took a long look around at everyone. Then she sighed and shook her head. All she could think to do now was to post it for discussion before her head exploded.
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