What would a police free future look like?

alyaza [they/she]@beehaw.orgmod to Socialism@beehaw.org – 25 points –
What would a police free future look like?
washingtonsocialist.mdcdsa.org
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And when those people eventually get caught, they would be dealt with by the populace. Consequences for people's actions is the same deterrent that currently "stops" people from stealing shit all the time (i.e. people still steal shit with the existence of police)

And when those people eventually get caught, they would be dealt with by the populace.

How exactly do you imagine this happening? A tarnished reputation and nobody wanting to associate might work well for petty theft. But I would rather have some sort of court system for more complicated issues. But if you have a court system, you have to have some way of making a person show up, no?

I recently read about a system used by some groups in North America (I think, geography could be off) where people were held accountable by independent arbitration and a cultural expectation of reparations.

It's hard to say how well it worked, the Europeans were idealizing the "exotic natives" and the communities were proud of their community and could have exaggerated it's success. But they did this for a long time.

From what I understand, if I robbed your home, made off with your dog, and in the process hurt your mother, my direct community of family and friends would meet with your direct family and friends and hash out a way to make things better. My family and I might be on the hook to return the things I took, help you with repairing some clothing, and should you or your family need help for a period of time we would be obligated to help. If we couldn't come to an agreement someone else from the community who was not involved would come to help decide.

Obviously this is primarily focused on preventing these things from happening in the first place. I don't want my friends and family to be indebted to others, and through helping your friends and family, we might end up closer, making whatever caused the problem less likely to occur again.

As to how exactly we do such a thing today, thats tough. We have many complicated societal problems that make many feel disconnected from everyone around them. One thing is for sure though, police do not prevent crime, they do not solve crimes, and they sure don't police evenly. We desperately need to try something different, and maybe a first step, in a weird way, is trying to connect with the people around you.

Yeah we could set up some sort of force to police these people.

We'd also need some sort of court to make sure these things were dealt with in a just way and people weren't just accused and punished without evidence.