Defund the Police, but Don’t Replace It With Surveillance Tech
In order to stop a power grab from surveillance companies and tech giants, we need to define what policing is
The weeks of uprisings across America in response to the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and countless others have been overshadowed by just one thing: the response to that response. Protests against police brutality and violence have been met with unprecedented police brutality and violence.
As frightening as it has been to watch, the response also provides a glimmer of hope: For perhaps the first time, a serious discussion about defunding the police is taking place in mainstream American politics and media. “Regardless of your view on police power — whether you want to get rid of the police or simply to make them less violent, here’s an immediate demand we can all make: Cut the number of police in half and cut their budget in half,” the organizer Mariame Kaba wrote in the New York Times. “Fewer police officers equals fewer opportunities for them to brutalize and kill people.”
It’s an immediate and effective strategy, and one American cities should adopt right now. But there are powerful unseen implications to consider. Shifts in established power structures present not only…
