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Yeah yeah I know, ACAB and everything.
Police don't just show up, they walk around. At least in non-police states like the US.
And wherever they walk around, crime is prevented. Because a robber isn't going to snatch a purse when a police is looking right at them. A drug dealer isn't going to sell drugs in front of the police station. And people drive slower and don't go into a road rage when the police is riding close by.
So no, police does prevent crimes.
I rarely see cops walking and I'm not in the states. That might normal where you are but I can guarantee that cops have to be called, pretty much everytime you need one. They aren't the deterrent you think they are.
Also when I see one I don't think they are increasing safety and security.
The threat of violence from police and incarceration by police are also associated with the presence you mention. These also prevent crime from happening.
The “problem” is that it’s physically impossible to have police everywhere, all the time, for that prevention to be meaningful. It’s diminishing returns and exponential cost. So programs to prevent people from turning to crime, like jobs programs, pay so they aren’t suffering in poverty, affordable and accessible mental health and regular health care, addiction treatment, decent housing, etc. are the logical next steps.
But no. We just hire more cops, give them more guns, and the equivalent of military armored vehicles. They choose violence.
If they are only preventing opportunity, the crime will just take place at a different place or time when an officer is not present. The program's mentioned are aimed at reducing the motive for crime, which applies at all places and times.
It creates marginalized and crime hubs too. Police chooses to be present somewhere (where there's a perceived interest) and chooses not to somewhere else. Also crime is not viewed equally among the different spheres of society and police just creates its own type of systemic violence in relation to that.
Crime prevention does indeed start with social programs. But it doesn't end there. I'm all for defunding the police and I do agree that in the US police is really out of hand, but let's not be naive here. Social programs aren't going to address organized crime, or crimes of passion, crimes of immaturity (tenagers are both immature hormone soups and capable of causing harm) or political extremism. Antisocial behaviours can appear even in the socialistest of the welfarest of the welfare states.
Not to mention that cops have at the very least also the role of maintaining order, which is different from preventing crime. Think traffic cops, or rowdy crowd marshalling, or stopping disorderly conduct in public, or (extreme example) breaking up the mob that wants to lynch the alleged pedophile, to make sure he gets due process.
I'm all for a profound overhaul of policing, and for deep changes to what first responders are called for what emergency, but, honestly there exist functions for which police is useful.
Police somewhat deter crime, sometimes. Sometimes they prevent a crime from being worse. For example, they race to a crime in progress and try to stop it if it is still going on.
I don't think you could have a successful society without laws, and you need someone to enforce those laws. But, the modern US police force is so far from what you'd want if you were designing things from the ground up.
They don't care AFTER a crime has been committed either. Every time I tried to report my bike stolen (happened a lot, unfortunately) they just laughed at me for wasting their time.
The one time I needed them for an intervention they showed up very late, obviously against their will and were downright belligerent (I was the victim of a crime, they barely registered it).
ACAB, no exceptions.
Fear of getting caught in progress or after criminal behaviour is literally THE factor for not doing crime. Everyone is capable of crime regardless of how well socialised we are. We either have no good reason to do crime, restrain our criminal "urge" or are at least unconsciously scared of getting caught. The intensity of punishment is not helping to deter crime. The chance of getting caught however is by far the largest deterrent.
If there's a fight, they arrest the victim and let the assailant go free. Then charge the victim with "assault with a deadly weapon".
Source: Happened to me. I was thinking Motherfucker, I don't got no weapon, fuck off. Charges were all dropped.
I used to roll my eyes when Redditors posted anti-police sentiment, I thought they were just being edgy. Turn out they were right.
Some people don't understand until they've been victimized.
It's a bit disingenuous to pretend police and punishment in general are not a deterrent. Yes, reducing police has shown to reduce crime for some time in certain case studies, but not removing them.
however, just like the severity of punishment, after a point the more police you have see diminishing returns, and in serious over policing cases you start to get more crime because they start looking for reasons to hand out fines and smaller charges to justify/fund their job. However, prosperity reduces the amount of crime more than anything, in a given population.
"Mom, I know your intentions are good, but aren't the Police the protective force that maintains the status quo for the wealthy elite? Don't you think we ought to attack the roots of social problems instead of jamming people into overcrowded prisons?”
“Look, Lisa! It's McGriff the Crime Dog! Hello Lisa! Help me bite crime! Ruff ruff!”
The Simpsons
My ex husband called the police on me two years ago because he wanted to kick me out and move in his new concubine.
When they showed up, they told me I could either go to jail or a mental institution, that I had to leave the house I was currently paying bills on.
They have denied that they did this, and refused to provide me a police report. I had zero protections in my divorce. The fact that I was evicted from my house meant that I did not have the documentation of the physical and mental abuse that I needed for court. Not that it mattered anyway, because my ex drained my bank account a few weeks later and made it impossible to get a lawyer.
