What Is The Point Of Police?

What is ACAB? Why do people say it?

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ACAB means All Cops Are Bastards and people say it because it's true.

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A C A B

When we say bastard we do not mean the informal definition "an unpleasant or despicable person." we mean "no longer in its pure or original form; debased."

Meaning: the justice system and the people that uphold it's values are corrupt and no longer doing what is good for the people it is meant to protect.

There will always be "bad" people who join forces of power, but when it comes to people who are enforcing the laws of our nation and approaching civilians with weapons, there should be stricter rules to join. People that will kneel on a mans neck for 8 minutes for "resisting arrest" [1], or shoot an innocent woman 8 times in her home, after breaking in plain-clothed and unannounced [2] should not have passed the psychological evaluation to get into the police force. There are so many examples of misconduct in the police force that it's almost astounding that people believe they protect and serve.

Many people do argue that because George Floyd was resisting arrest and because Breonna Taylor was suspected of having drugs that they in some way deserved what came to them; but since when does being guilty equal deserving to die? What happened to innocent until proven guilty? What happened to their right to a trial?

Who Do They Protect?

We've established that the police are not protecting people of color. Not Black, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Indian, East Asian, Native Americans, etc. That is almost 40% of the American population according to U.S. Census Bureau. Also Muslims and Jews who they believe to be terrorists and gluttons. They aren't protecting the 89% of rape and sexual assault victims whose perpetrators are never convicted. What about the 2.5 million homeless children? Or all the LGBTQ+ people? What about the 4 children that die each day from abuse or neglect? The 2.9 million children suffering from abuse? The 10 million people that report domestic abuse every year?

They're not doing anything to protect them, so who are they protecting?

Unfortunately, I don't have the answer to that, because each police officer is different, but I can confidently say not enough of them are protecting the people they should be. Too many of them stand for each other and no one else. They defend each other when they know they have done something wrong.

Defunding the Police [3]

"Slave patrols and Night Watches, which later became modern police departments, were both designed to control the behaviors of minorities." -Victor E. Kappeler, Ph.D. [4]

The US Police were created with the idea of catching and punishing slaves. To this day, that racial bias is especially apparent in police brutality [5]. Racist systems need to be torn down and in cases such as law enforcement they need to be redesigned for the people and rebuilt.

The highest positions, such as Chief of police needs to be a position given by election of the people, like a county sheriff is, not appointed by other members of the government. This means that the people have the opportunity to choose the person keeping their "protectors" in line.

Also, when we say defund, we do not mean abolish. Some people do want to abolish the police, but that is not the same as wanting to reallocate their funds. Funds need to be redirected to education systems, mental health programs and rehabilitation centers for non-violent offenders. We've been defunding schools for years, and they're still here and running, so clearly defunding does not mean abolishing. The police are NOT more important than our schools and yet people are against reallocating police funds, but have had no issue robbing our schools of proper funding year after year.

Police Brutality

Many protests have broken out across the country the past few months, protesting police brutality, these protests were met with more police brutality. Most protests were proven to have been completely peaceful before police arrived to tear gas the groups. Also, for the people who like to claim that protesting is reason enough for the police to get violent, protesting is a constitutional right. Police used rubber bullets and tear gas on peaceful protesters, violating their constitutional rights as well as committing aggravated assault and yet none of those officers have faced repercussions for it[6]. Police openly admitted tear gas and rubber bullets were deadly weapons, but only when protesters threw theirs back at them. They were shooting at and gassing people with no regard for children, pregnant women, or disabled people.

ALL Cops

Many people think with the phrase ACAB that those of us who say it believe that all cops are bad people, we don't. Obviously, you can find extremists in every group, so there are some people that believe that, but most of us don't. I personally believe there are good people who join the corrupt system and remain good people, trying to do the best they can. Although I do believe that, when you actively support and aid a corrupt system, a bastardized system of justice, you are not a good cop.

But what if they join the system to try to make it better? As stated in the Broadway musical Hamilton "if there's a fire you're trying to douse you cant put it out from inside the house". To fix the injustices in law enforcement and to rewrite it's racist past, we have to dismantle the system from the outside.

But Who Will You Call In An Emergency?

Firstly, not everyone is calling for the abolition of the police, so they'll still be there.

Secondly, emergencies don't always require cops. Firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics all respond to 911 calls as well. A cop is not always needed on a 911 call.

Lastly, the police have no constitutional obligation to protect you.[7] If they choose not to help you, they will not be punished or held accountable for it.

Blue Lives Matter

This was a movement created in direct response to Black lives matter. Black lives matter is talking about people of color who face discrimination and the unfair treatment to people of color by the police in particular. Blue lives don't matter because they don't exist. Being blue, being an officer is a choice, being black is not. Police chose that profession and choose to go back to it everyday. Black people don't get the choice in what race they are, what color their skin is, that they live a black life. This "movement", blue lives matter, is racist in nature as it was created to suppress the voices of a marginalized group attempting to stand up for their basic human rights.

Defund the police. Reallocate that money to schools and mental health programs.