The church’s argument is that by “divesting” from the use of police and resolving disputes by themselves, there would be less incidents of police misconduct. The logic does flow: of course if we eliminate the police entirely there would be no police misconduct as well.
Yes, the police can certainly be criticized for discrete incidents when particular officers act out of line. They should be held accountable for those incidents. But it does no good to discourage an entire community to distrust the entire police force, the vast, vast majority of which are good, hardworking people who strive to keep their communities safer.
A policy that advocates against calling the police will inevitably allow more crimes to go unpunished, undeterred and will ultimately create a more dangerous community.
A community that resolves its disputes through “self-help” with no aid of law enforcement agencies is definitely possible. Just look at Sicily in the early 1900s. Is that something we strive for? Count me out.
