Why do the police exist? And what role do they serve? In the context of recent events, ever more people from all walks of life have been asking this question. I will attempt to explain my perspective on the subject.
To begin with, there is only one role that I can envision the police playing for a civilized society. That is to keep the peace. If an officer of the law cannot help to accomplish that one goal, then their service has no real purpose. Without ramifications or accountability, they have become soldiers instead of policemen, and their jurisdiction has become a battlefield instead of a police district.
However, that one de facto modus operandi also betrays the inner conscience of anyone who would seek to completely dismantle the institution of law enforcement altogether. For if someone opposes the basic principles of peace keeping, then it stands to reason they must also oppose peace itself. And there is only one true alternative to peace: War. Chaos. Lawlessness. Anarchy. That is the only policy its opponents can reasonably propose to govern society by in its absence.
To that end, having complete and utter contempt for the police clearly reveals one's own inner disdain for the societal tranquility they have been entrusted with ensuring. It reveals a vicious, bloodthirsty nature that can scarcely be concealed behind whatever specious moral facades one is feigning support for.
Therefore, one's views on policing very much serve as a moral litmus test. Unwavering support for corruption and brutality reveals a desire to militarize society, whereas acknowledging the need for institutional reformation signifies one's dissatisfaction with the obvious unfairness of life, without embracing the complete and wholesale destructiveness which abolition entails.
That encompasses my views on policing.
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