In addition, without public support it is pretty hard if not impossible for the police to enforce any laws. As a resident of Minneapolis in 2020 I had the opportunity to watch this in action from my window a few times - basically police pull up, they try to work, a crowd chanting "murderers" materializes and they essentially have to choo…
In addition, without public support it is pretty hard if not impossible for the police to enforce any laws. As a resident of Minneapolis in 2020 I had the opportunity to watch this in action from my window a few times - basically police pull up, they try to work, a crowd chanting "murderers" materializes and they essentially have to choose to escalate or to back down. I watched them try to stop a fight between two men in the street - 7 or 8 cop cars eventually showed up but they all ended up leaving after the men fighting refused to comply. (The upshot was the two guys seemed to bond over their shared cop-hatred so I guess problem solved? ha.) Another time it was the aftermath of a stabbing, same story. These episodes were a few weeks after the riots, which were kind of the same problem x1000. There was a stand down during the first round of riots directly from the mayor's office, but the problem goes beyond that - and as you said, what else are people going to do when no one can help them? Thankfully it seems Minneapolis is making some progress towards accepting the idea that law enforcement is necessary to have laws - hopefully it's not too late.
I feel that the progressive position on crime, police and guns is not very coherent. Defunding the police is a very libertarian position while outlawing guns is authoritarian, and putting these two ideas together begs the question as to who will enforce the gun laws without police. I would think in order to sell gun control to the public you would want to instill confidence in the police rather than the opposite. SFO has gotten so bad that the San Francisco Chronicle is publishing propaganda saying burglary is simply a fact of life for urban dwellers and you should learn to barricade yourself in the evening.
In addition, without public support it is pretty hard if not impossible for the police to enforce any laws. As a resident of Minneapolis in 2020 I had the opportunity to watch this in action from my window a few times - basically police pull up, they try to work, a crowd chanting "murderers" materializes and they essentially have to choose to escalate or to back down. I watched them try to stop a fight between two men in the street - 7 or 8 cop cars eventually showed up but they all ended up leaving after the men fighting refused to comply. (The upshot was the two guys seemed to bond over their shared cop-hatred so I guess problem solved? ha.) Another time it was the aftermath of a stabbing, same story. These episodes were a few weeks after the riots, which were kind of the same problem x1000. There was a stand down during the first round of riots directly from the mayor's office, but the problem goes beyond that - and as you said, what else are people going to do when no one can help them? Thankfully it seems Minneapolis is making some progress towards accepting the idea that law enforcement is necessary to have laws - hopefully it's not too late.
I feel that the progressive position on crime, police and guns is not very coherent. Defunding the police is a very libertarian position while outlawing guns is authoritarian, and putting these two ideas together begs the question as to who will enforce the gun laws without police. I would think in order to sell gun control to the public you would want to instill confidence in the police rather than the opposite. SFO has gotten so bad that the San Francisco Chronicle is publishing propaganda saying burglary is simply a fact of life for urban dwellers and you should learn to barricade yourself in the evening.
https://twitter.com/sfchronicle/status/1456638956204924928