Rethinking the blues

Although crime rates are at the lowest they have been in over 30 years, the number of arrests has declined only slightly between 2009 and 2010 and the U.S. still spends more than $100 billion on police every year to fund 714,921 sworn police officers and an increasing number of militarized police units. Police play a vital role in protecting communities and holding accountable those who have committed violent and property offenses. However, police forces have morphed over the years from a locally-funded and managed entity to protect public safety, to also serving as a federally-funded jobs initiative, an engine for surveillance, and a militaristic special forces agency engaged in a war on drugs, gangs, and youth. Federal government funds and involvement have helped create large police forces that are disconnected from communities and operate in a punitive rather than preventative way, resulting in more arrests, more prison, and more costs to taxpayers, among other negative effects on communities. It is not just the sheer number of police that lead to more arrests and more prison, but also the style of policing, which treats entire communities as though they should be contained, surveilled, and punished.