If anyone is interested in actually reducing the tension between the police and the larger society, there are two things I can think of that I would put at the top of the list given the realities of modern life (in other words, I am not considering private and competing agencies for this exercise).

The first would be to demilitarize the police.  Let’s consider some examples.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

What does all of this do to the relationship between police and the common man?  I think to ask the question is to answer it.

A Government of Wolves... John W. Whitehead Best Price: $1.16 Buy New $2.99 (as of 10:15 UTC - Details) Many people are demanding to de-fund the police.  I am all for it if it means de-militarize the police.  Dump all of the war-footing paraphernalia into the ocean.  Fundamentally change the training in order to minimize assault.

Otherwise, de-funding the police does nothing for me.  The same tactics and equipment will be deployed, and the same money will be spent elsewhere.

And it really won’t achieve much of anything without implementing my second recommendation: decriminalize non-violent acts.  Non-violent drug offenses come to mind, but there are others.  These laws do nothing other than put the police in a position to raise the tension between them and the rest of society.  These are used as a pretext to confront and search.

The United States has the largest prison population – both in absolute as well as relative numbers – in the world. Currently, about half of these are in prison for non-violent offenses.  What happens to the non-violent offenders in prison?  They learn to absorb the culture of the violent offenders.  Who does this serve?  Not society at large.  It only adds fuel to the fire of the tension between the police and society at large.

Conclusion

I give the protestors credit (not the mobs; the protestors).  Beyond opening a discussion on the violent tactics of the police, they also got Amazon to nix (for a time) their facial recognition program (sadly, I think when it returns it will be stronger than ever – one more reason I advocate for the two items above). Battlefield America: T... John W. Whitehead Best Price: $10.95 Buy New $18.80 (as of 10:15 UTC - Details)

Demilitarize the police and significantly reduce the laws on the books, focused on the non-violent offenses.  I can think of no actions that would do more to change the dynamic between police and the larger society for the better.

Epilogue

Narrative drives action.  All of our libertarian theory has not moved the needle one inch in a positive direction on these subjects.  Whether you agree with or disagree with the narrative that is driving these actions, it is most certainly a narrative – not an intelligent theory – that is driving it.

Libertarians who think the great idea of property rights will drive the culture are sorely mistaken.  It is the culture that will determine what, if any, property rights you have.  The culture is driven – always – by narrative.  We live in a story, not a theory.

Reprinted with permission from Bionic Mosquito.

Rise of the Warrior Co... Radley Balko Best Price: $3.56 Buy New $10.95 (as of 05:55 UTC - Details) I’m Frank Hamer:... Frost, H. Gordon Best Price: $42.11 Buy New $24.95 (as of 05:06 UTC - Details)

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