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Slack Removed a Blog Post Showing How Police Use Its Tech

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Re: Slack Removed a Blog Post Showing How Police Use Its Tech

#131
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why though? Is there not a legitimate role for policing in a civil society? And if there is, don't they need to coordinate and collaborate just like any other organization?

In the abstract police are necessary. In today’s America, with the police as they actually exist today, they are very much not necessary, and are a drain on public safety, social order, and personal liberty.

That doesn’t make sense. There are 300 million guns in America and plenty of crime happens every year.

It’s true crime is down from the historical highs of the 70s and 80s, but there are very much still murders and thefts that need to be investigated and punished.

The reality is if police were abolished we’d go back to the bad old days of private detective agencies being used for security. Would you rather have some sort of unholy fusion of Blackwater and the Pinkerton detective agency performing policing tasks in our country?

Re: Slack Removed a Blog Post Showing How Police Use Its Tech

#132

I don’t get it. Are we now advocating that police is overall more of a force of evil than good? Legitimate question.

Dave Chappelle had a bit that went something like this: > Honey, did you see this? - Apparently, the Police have been beating up negroes like hotcakes! The special he mentioned this joke was aired in 2000 . I bring this up because it highlights that for some people the police haven't been a force of good for a long time, and smartphones and social media are forcing people to confront that fact. There has been many ar…

That joke doesn't support the claim that police aren't a force for good, only that they have been a force for less good for blacks. Of course no one is better off by "abolishing the police" (unless you're a fan of a global dark age).

Re: Slack Removed a Blog Post Showing How Police Use Its Tech

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there not a legitimate role for policing in a civil society? Look around. Most Americans would say no to this question. I don’t think they’ve thought through the consequences of that, but I guarantee a random poll would show most Americans want to abolish or >70% defund the police (which is effectively the same).

> Look around. Most Americans would say no to this question. How is it possible to conclude this? There have been polls the last few days where more than half of respondents of both parties support sending the National Guard to quash the rioting and looting, and a significant proportion of Democrat respondents think the Federal government should send the U.S. military to do the same. If you live in a place where peop…

> If you live in a place where people broadly do not support the police as an institution, you live in an odd place.

This could be the case. Tier 3 on the West Coast in the US. Everyone marching and protesting want the police either completely gone or heavily defunded to the point where they basically don't exist.

Re: Slack Removed a Blog Post Showing How Police Use Its Tech

#134

Former Slack employee here... This blog post/case study was published a few years ago by Slack's marketing team and led to a firestorm of controversy within the company. Many employees of all backgrounds spoke up about how upset they were that Slack would use a police department as marketing. Eventually the decision was made to keep it up which certainly frustrated a lot of people. I guess now the leaders have decide…

Why though? Is there not a legitimate role for policing in a civil society? And if there is, don't they need to coordinate and collaborate just like any other organization?

a truly civil society requires zero policing, when uncivil elements exist then policing is required, the question should arise what is the root cause of incivility?

Re: Slack Removed a Blog Post Showing How Police Use Its Tech

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there not a legitimate role for policing in a civil society? Look around. Most Americans would say no to this question. I don’t think they’ve thought through the consequences of that, but I guarantee a random poll would show most Americans want to abolish or >70% defund the police (which is effectively the same).

> Look around. Most Americans would say no to this question. How is it possible to conclude this? There have been polls the last few days where more than half of respondents of both parties support sending the National Guard to quash the rioting and looting, and a significant proportion of Democrat respondents think the Federal government should send the U.S. military to do the same. If you live in a place where peop…

Right. It seems to me that many here are making sweeping and unsubstantiated generalizations. There are problems in policing that need to be addressed, but to extrapolate from that that police are not necessary and/or are a net decrease in safety is really a conflation of two separate issues.

Re: Slack Removed a Blog Post Showing How Police Use Its Tech

#136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why though? Is there not a legitimate role for policing in a civil society? And if there is, don't they need to coordinate and collaborate just like any other organization?

> Is there not a legitimate role for policing in a civil society? Look around. Most Americans would say no to this question. I don’t think they’ve thought through the consequences of that, but I guarantee a random poll would show most Americans want to abolish or >70% defund the police (which is effectively the same).

> Look around. Most Americans would say no to this question.

Actually random polls say the exact opposite of your guarantee.

Only 15% of Americans support cutting police funding.

https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/20...

Re: Slack Removed a Blog Post Showing How Police Use Its Tech

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Study other countries which have less police violence? Incorporate more community involvement? Etc. The idea that society doesn't need some sort of police force is so hilariously naive, I am in disbelief that serious people are suggesting it. Clearly they are from an extremely privileged background and never had to deal with living in poor areas. The police absolutely need reform, but to pretend that they're more of…

I'm sure it seems very alarming that people are 'demonizing the police' if you're new to this issue -- in which case this week has woken you up to something that's been a problem for people for a very very long time. But it is not a new issue, and people's fear and pain at it is genuine. To some segments of society (who are not criminals), the police absolutely are more of a threat than criminals. When there are peop…

I'm not new to this issue and I haven't "been woken up". As I just said, I actually have experience living in a crime-ridden area. Of course the police are a problem but again, the facts simply don't line up to your statements. The police killed 1,098 people in 2019.

https://mappingpoliceviolence.org

Compare that to the overall murder rate (not including other crimes.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_homicid...

> To some segments of society (who are not criminals), the police absolutely are more of a threat than criminals.

So getting rid of the police will have no effect whatsoever on the amount of criminals or crime? It will simply remain the same? That, again, is extremely naive.

As usual, the predominant political news topic overrides all rational thought. One week, we have a mass shooting and call for more police and less guns. The next, the police unjustly kill someone and everyone wants to abolish them entirely.

Re: Slack Removed a Blog Post Showing How Police Use Its Tech

#138
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A BLM co-founder is on NPR advocating to "defund the police." "It’s not possible for the entity of law enforcement to be a compassionate, caring governmental agency in black communities. That’s not the training, that’s not the institution."[0] There's a continuum of what "defund" means, but the idealists are pushing for actual, no-hyperbole defunding and disbanding. Police cannot be made good. They believe would be e…

In response to persistent injustice by police, there are really only a few options: (a) Get used to it. (b) Get ready to join up. More officers who care about justice mean that it's easier to get rid of the unjust officers. (c) Get ready to defund/disband, or at least reduce the scope of, the police department. It doesn't shock me that (c) is being mentioned. It's probably a bluff, but might have enough credibility t…

The current way that police are chosen, trained, and managed seems to have a corrosive effect on members of the police force. Option (b) with a sprinkling of (c) seems best, but it's clear the status quo in depts is not resulting in policing that is positive for the community as a whole.

One would expect that if the system were set up right, it should a) find people who would police well b) setup systems to ensure as few abuses as possible happen c) encourage the good cops to push out the bad cops.

It's pretty clear that it's more than the people themselves that are broken. The system isn't set up to result in good policing.

Re: Slack Removed a Blog Post Showing How Police Use Its Tech

#139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>How you get any of those things by demonizing the police and making it a left-vs-right political issue is beyond me. These aren't new issues, practically speaking every attempt at less radical solutions hasn't worked and there have been many. In the end, the solution will be filled with political compromise and the weaker your starting position the more compromise there will be.

Surely the amount of police violence is less today than say, the early 1900s, when outright lynching was practically sponsored by the police? You deny that there has been any progress?

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