The “abuses” of the police. The cops who cut, insult, beat, maim, rape, murder. The servants of the State talk about them as if they were rare and isolated episodes, consequences of unfortunate circumstances or, in the worst case, due to some “bad apples”. This is to say that, as a whole, policeman and woman are brave knights in the service of good. And in any case, their work would be indispensable to the society.
But, you only have to open your eyes a little to realize that violence is the very essence of power. A violence often hidden or considered “normal”, as if exploiting, attacking, locking up, murdering someone could be normal.
Too often, when police violence occurs, victims and/or their loved ones condemn police behavior only with regard to the specific case they are involved in. The existence of the police institution and the power it serves are almost never called into question. Did the police kill someone? His loved ones press charges, make silent marches, stifle their anger and try to calm the rage of those who cry out for revenge. They denounce the racist, fascist, anti-democratic drifts of some parts of the police. They appeal to the law, the law that exists precisely to defend domination and exploitation.
How often do we hear the request for “truth and justice”? Truth, as that the “criminal” behavior of some cop be recognized (and thus the “proper” behavior restored). Justice, as that those responsible be punished (so that the system remains the same). And to whom are they asked? To Justice, that of the courts, but sure! That Justice for which the cops work and which would not exist without police. What truth and what justice, then? Those that Justice, instrument of political, economic and moral power, will grant us.
All this means to endorse the power and its servants. It is a vicious circle from which there is no longer the possibility of getting out.
The power can sometimes find it useful to punish (almost always in a symbolic way, but this is not the problem) a behavior of the police that is perceived as excessive. We are in a democracy, let’s not forget that! And the “complaints” of the people, if they call into question only some details of the system, not its whole, are useful to him. Power can correct its own shortcomings and excesses, while at the same time giving the impression that it is listening to its subjects. This makes it stronger: it eliminates friction within its functioning.
As long as there will be police, there will be police violence, either by mistake or on purpose, when the power decides to resort to the force it usually keeps aside. But in ordinary situations, law enforcement is far more effective if it appears to take care to the rights of citizens. The fairy tale of democracy and human rights can continue…
Who believes in the nice cop? He’s still a cop and he does his dirty work better (with less resistance and friction) than the brutal cop. But let’s imagine for a moment that a perfectly “kind”, “democratic” police force that respects our supposed “rights” is possible. What would that mean? That, on the other hand, the population would be “kind” too.
A power that covers itself with the mask of democracy, this colossal lie, would have all its interest in a police force that would make almost no use of force, or no use at all. This would mean that on the other side there would be subjects who would obey without fail, obedient.
To want a police force that does its job “well” means to wish for the most complete submission. There would be no more need for the baton, because each and every one of us would already have a cop, the most powerful of all, in our heads.
The fundamental problem lies elsewhere and not in the punctual violence of the police. It lies in the very existence of the police, in the very existence of the state they serve, in the very existence of a society founded on authority and servitude.
That’s why we don’t want any police, not even the most democratic, especially the most democratic. Not just because the cops are murderers. But because the system they defend and impose, the world that needs the police, is itself, always, deadly. Because we no longer want any authority. Because we want to be free.
[The final paragraph is missing]
[Published by Act for freedom now!]
