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- Title
AN ABOLITIONIST VISION: RECLAIMING PUBLIC SAFETY FROM A CULTURE OF VIOLENCE.
- Authors
Afnan, Alexander
- Abstract
The year 2020 saw every aspect of American society radically change as the country responded to the Coronavirus pandemic. Yet, despite the economic fluctuations and the prolonged lockdowns, one thing remained constant: the number of civilians killed at the hands of police officers. In 2020, more than 1,000 people were killed by a police officer. As other scholarship has highlighted, this can be explained by the centrality of violence in police training, which leads officers to self-identify as crimefighting warriors -- to act first and ask questions later. As a result, many police encounters begin with relative peace, yet end in bloodshed. In particular, Black and Latine communities are disproportionately the subject of police suspicion and, inevitably, police violence. Yet, police violence cannot be attributed to training alone. This article highlights that the endemic of police violence is actually a manifestation of a greater societal culture upheld by a hegemony that legitimizes police violence. Various institutions in civil society -- from the news media and popular culture to the influence of political leadership -- lead us to believe that crime is rampant, that people of color are dangerous, and that police are necessary to preserve the safety of our communities. This hegemony is further cemented through the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, which has expanded the power of the police over the last fifty years relying on this logic. This article proposes that reforming police training and introducing new policies cannot yield fruit so long as this hegemony exists. Consequently, reforming police training and introducing new policies will only find success if placed within the context of creating a culture that is the very antithesis of the culture of violence -- one that is instead centered around community wellbeing. Rather than focus on the various policy and legal mechanisms for untangling the culture of violence, this article argues that the first step to attaining meaningful and organic cultural change is for academics and public advocates to develop a consensus on the principles that will lie at the heart of this cultural change. Without this consensus, change will be haphazard, inconsistent, and shortlived, which ultimately suits the status quo of violence. As a result, this article offers three principles that fundamentally undermine the underlying logic of the culture of violence: the oneness of humankind, the inherent dignity and moral capacity of each individual, and the conception of justice as restorative, reparative, and redistributive. This article suggests that focusing on these principles can present a guiding framework to the discourse of police reform that will promote a united vision for organic and long-term cultural change.
- Subjects
PUBLIC safety; POLICE misconduct -- Law &; legislation; VIOLENCE prevention; CORONAVIRUS diseases; STAY-at-home orders
- Publication
Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law, 2021, Vol 28, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
1068-7955
- Publication type
Article