Musings on Total Abolition

PHOTO COURTESY OF DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS | AFP

PHOTO COURTESY OF DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS | AFP

By Tessa Stapp Staff Writer

Over the summer, Black Lives Matter protests sparked national discussion surrounding police reform and abolition in response to the ways policing disproportionately affects BIPOC communities. This call to abolition led city governments to ask: what would we replace police with? The San Francisco Examiner reported that San Francisco, among other cities across the United States, has developed plans to expand their fire department response teams to be composed of a paramedic, a licensed clinical social worker, and a peer advocate. However, this call to replace police with a social worker, family counselor or psychologist is not nuanced enough to uplift our communities. The answer for protecting our community is community fostering policies. Modern day policing in the south is rooted in “slave patrols” formed to enforce the Fugitive Slave Acts passed in 1793 and 1850. The goal of these patrols was to capture runaway slaves and to squash potential rebellions. Law enforcement in the United States today continues to enable oppression through the over policing of predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods. This form of systemic oppression leads to a higher proportion of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color) being imprisoned, as shown in recent data from the U.S. Department of Justice. To combat this injustice, many have called for social workers as a community centered alternative to law enforcement. This change is not far fetched, but there is more to be done. The call to replace police with social workers ignores the reality of the moment we live in. Social work allows for the criminalization of poverty and addiction. Children are removed from homes when the issue is not a lack of care but rather basic needs insecurity. Thus, we must focus our resources differently. Naomi Klein, a prominent feminist theorist explained, “in moments of crisis, people are willing to hand over a great deal of pow-

er to anyone who claims to have a magic cure”. needs and the narrative that it is the fault of the She was writing in response to the recession after laborer within capitalism when they cannot prohurricane Katrina which allowed modern robber vide as compared to the inadequate wages. barons to corrupt school systems for fiscal profit. Instead, there must be a more nuanced conversaHowever, a lot of Americans are now in an emo- tion, one that realizes social workers continue the tional crisis. The spotlight that Black Lives Matter, criminalization of families that are facing drug adas a global movement, has continued to shine on diction and basic needs insecurity. They continue police brutality has brought the biases of our jus- the traumatization of low income children as they tice system into the forefront. Therefore, it makes remove them from loving families experiencing sense for individuals in the midst of this crisis to poverty and place them in the foster-care complex. call for solutions that already exist, such as calling Abolition is the answer- but this leads to a quesfor social workers to replace the police. tion of how to use these reappropriated funds to The issue with turning to these preexisting sys- best serve community interests. The follow-up tems, is that they are rooted in the same histor- answer is to create community-led, communiic systems of oppression. Social workers are a ty-centered programs to secure basic needs for component of the prison-industrial complex. The those in the area and to set-up committees withoverlapping interests of the United States govern- in neighborhoods in charge of specific aspects of ing bodies and that of industry combine to cre- communal care. An end to judgement, and policate a surveilling body that seeks to regulate the ing of different lifestyles all together with a focus movement of bodies within the state. on holistic support for families and individuals is We cannot simply stop at removing the mino- the only way to dream of a world outside of the taur terrorizing us in order to move towards true slow violence these systems rooted in hatred crefreedom. We must also escape the labyrinth itself. ate. Police are the most visible of these policing sys- The answer is also about more than simply doing tems- but the effects of body policing are seen in away with the police- it calls for an interrogation many spaces, and moving towards increasing so- of all institutions today to identify the ways they cial workers on police and firefighter task forces disadvantage BIPOC families and communities. is just a way to exchange the minotaur for a new Tony Platt in 1982 wrote Crime and Punishment mythic beast. in the United States: Immediate and Long-term Dorothy Roberts, a professor of Law and Africana Reforms from a Marxist Perspective; which outstudies at the University of Pennsylvania, is one of lined seven policies to address injustices by our the changemakers guiding the discussion on what government. These are the start of a dream for a the call to abolition looks like. She argues that the better, safer, community centered future. child welfare system and the justice system are both in the business of punishing Black and other 1. Bring equal justice to the bail system marginalized bodies. Platt is calling for equal justice in the bail system. Like the Prison Industrial Complex, the Foster In- This is something tangible on the California baldustrial Complex is also one which profits off of lot in 2020. However, ballot justice is not found the criminalization of poverty, basic needs insecu- in replacing the cash bail system with risk manrity, and addiction. Liberation does not come eas- agement as Proposition 25 claims. This proposiily, it comes with reimagining. The call to replace tion would institute an even more racist form of cops with social workers is a call to transform the jailing, where judges can discriminate against inpolice state’s visceral bloodshed into one of slow- dividuals they characterize as flight risks. Voting er violence, like that of environmental racism- the No on Proposition 20 is essential for protecting murder of livelyhoods made invisible. criminal justice reform. The state wishes to make invisible the way Black, 2. Abolish Mandatory Sentences Indigenous, other Persons of Color, and working Mandatory sentences are predefined lengths of poor families are discriminated against by the imprisonment time which Judges are bound to. state. This discrimination comes at the hands These laws do not prevent crimes, and use too of the states’ inability to support people’s basic broad of a scope which overlooks the complexity

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Police clash with protesters in Austin, Texas. PHOTO COURTESY OF BEN CARNEIRO | TEXAS OBSERVER

of every individual casse. of the causes of crime- but the truth is that basic 3. Restore Indeterminate Sentences needs insecurity causes crime. That is why there Twelve states, including California, do not uti- exists a need for securing basic needs for all peolize indeterminate sentencing. Restoring inde- ples instead of punishing people without basic terminate sentences recognizes the humanity of needs security. those imprisoned, and allows for changes in the 7. Restore Funding for Community Alternatives to duration of jail time, and can move individuals to- Imprisonment wards parole faster. Investing in community projects will allow for 4. Combat racism in Criminal Justice Professionals more food sovereignty in low income communiThe racism Platt recognized in 1982- serves as the ties, and foster the investment needed to move foundation for pretrial detention and sentencing outside of policing each other. racial disparity today. Longer sentences for BIPOC These points made in 1982, are more accessible are compounded from simultaneous biased use of now than ever before. Platt outlines a clear path discretion by prosecution, and policies that di- towards abolition centered in radical incrementalrectly disadvantage POC and low income people. ism. Through us getting out and voting on propo5. Prosecute Corporate Crime and Racist Violence sitions 17 and 18, marching for community fundThere is proof that racist crimes go under report- ing, and phonebanking to raise awareness of local ed in the US by police forces and white collar city initiatives we can radically change the future criminals receive preferential treatment within set before us. Abolishing the police doesn’t look the prison system. To foster community care the like a one-for-one swap for social workers- but punishment must fit the crime of undermining rather all of us putting in the effort to support community health. each other, and changing the entire system away 6. Increase Employment to Lower Incarceration from aggression and towards compassion. Platt frames this idea as unemployment being one

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