Saying that ACAB is a terrible and ineffective criticism is demonstrably false, as the sentiments that inform it have driven actual change. Well, that and burning down a few police precincts. Only through sustained public pressure combined with protests (including riots) have several officers involved in recent extra-judicial killings had attention shown on them and some inkling of justice delivered.
Correlation is not causation. Who’s to say that the change wasn’t actually brought about by more rational individuals proposing nuanced arguments to the police directly? Who’s to say the same change would not have happened
without the violence? You’re going to need some evidence to prove that ACAB
directly had an impact on the change.
Trying to force the idea that
All cops are bad does not make use of methods which are
scientifically proven to be more effective at changing people’s minds.
The less you try to force a particular set of views on someone, the freer they’ll feel to reflect honestly on what they think—and maybe even revise their thinking down the line.
This is because there is a systemic issue with the police that stems from the top. Focusing on just the few “bad cops” does nothing when the problem is the system that created them in the first place, much like pulling a weed up by the roots. If only a “few” airline pilots crashed their planes per year at an airline you would critique the ENTIRE company, not just the pilots. Likewise criticizing only a few bad cops does nothing if you don’t look at the large system surrounding them. If that worked we wouldn’t be in the current situation we’re in.
If the problem stems from the top, then why not focus on criticizing the actual top, a single individual or small group of individuals, and not lumping in everyone below them who may very well support you in your ideals for police reform? If the problem is a system, then why not point out specific problems with the system and provide solutions for how they can be addressed? Yes, there has been lots of that happening recently, but not necessarily because people go around yelling ACAB! More likely in spite of it. My argument is that phrases such as ACAB only serve to hinder your very own goal of police reform and promote extremism.
Black people are 2.5 times more likely to be murdered by the police.
An investigation by the Department of Justice found that the entire police force was complicit in a culture of lawlessness, a total lack of accountability, and undermining community trust.
Of Ferguson. Of a single town. Out of the tens of thousands of towns in America. Your claimed lacked that bit of nuance. There is no reason to assume that the problems of one police force equate to a systemic problem across the entire nation. New York is not Seattle is not some small town in North Dakota.
A study by the National Center for Women And Policing found that 40 percent of police families have problems with domestic abuse, several times the national average for American families.
Okay but why is this true?
Is it because people who are violent are more likely to become cops?
Or is it because people who are cops are more likely to be exposed to trauma which can lead to a higher rate of domestic violence? In which case we should be supporting better mental support systems for police officers?
Again, correlation is not causation.
Not to mention the police as an institution originated from the slave patrols that ensured my ancestors stayed nice and put on their master’s plantations.
We are not North Korea, we don’t blame ancestors for the crimes of their descendants. The past does necessarily not define who we are today. Since then the police system has gone under much revision and iteration and improvement. You may not think it’s enough, but I certainly don’t see any ‘slave patrols’ happening today.
And that’s not even bringing up the countless videos of police brutally injuring and shutting down protests and even journalists with extreme force that are circulating around the net.
There are just as many videos of people responding to police with extreme violence. You need to see the whole context and understand the reasons why what happened, happened to understand what may be a problem and what needs to be changed.
Police car driving into peaceful protesters?
Or protesters pushing a barrier up to a police car to prevent it from moving forward, to which the officer responded with a controlled push that injured nobody but resulted in the the police cars windows being smashed and the car needing to be abandoned for the safety of the officer inside?
- ACAB isn’t the solution, its the problem. The solution is reform, defunding, or abolition. Mix and match to taste!
It’s a terrible, ineffective, extremist, alienating, and divisive, way to express a problem if you are actually seeking to fix said problem. Abolition without a proven replacement isn’t a solution either.
