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== Origins == | == Origins == | ||
In the early stages of [[capitalism]], when the [[bourgeoisie]] and [[proletariat]] were beginning to | In the early stages of [[capitalism]], when the [[bourgeoisie]] and [[proletariat]] were beginning to grow and entrench themselves as [[Social class|classes]], the bourgeoisie needed a way to keep the proletariat under control. Previously, individual employers such as [[guild]] masters were able to deal with individual employees on their own because of the close relationship between the two parties, who often lived in the same building for years. In contrast, the new proletarian class could not be managed on an individual level because it organized itself — and therefore acted — collectively.<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=David Whitehouse|newspaper=Works in Theory|title=Origins of the police|date=2014-12-07|url=https://worxintheory.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/origins-of-the-police/|retrieved=2025-06-21}}</ref> | ||
When the [[England|English]] proletariat reacted to its worsening living and working conditions with mass demonstrations in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the English bourgeoisie originally deployed the army to attack them, but killing demonstrators backfired by creating martyrs and further angering workers. Instructing the army to control crowds through nonviolent means was also ineffective, so a new institution had to be created to control the working class that would be violent, but ideally nonlethal. In 1829, [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] passed the Metropolitan Police Act and the first modern police force was formed.<ref name=":0" /> | When the [[England|English]] proletariat reacted to its worsening living and working conditions with mass demonstrations in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the English bourgeoisie originally deployed the army to attack them, but killing demonstrators backfired by creating martyrs and further angering workers. Instructing the army to control crowds through nonviolent means was also ineffective, so a new institution had to be created to control the working class that would be violent, but ideally nonlethal. In 1829, [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] passed the Metropolitan Police Act and the first modern police force was formed.<ref name=":0" /> | ||
== Role of the police == | == Role of the police == | ||
The police exist to | The police exist to protect the [[class character]] of the [[state]]. Everyday police work involves patrolling: monitoring a specific area, where police become used to the area, gain experience using force, and identify local radicals. Patrolling lays the groundwork for suppressing uprisings.<ref name=":0" /> | ||
=== Crime === | === Crime === | ||
Revision as of 14:30, 22 June 2025
The police are state body that has the monopoly on the legal use of force. Under bourgeois governments, they are used to repress the working class and protect the profits of the bourgeoisie. They break strikes and carry out evictions.[1]
Origins
In the early stages of capitalism, when the bourgeoisie and proletariat were beginning to grow and entrench themselves as classes, the bourgeoisie needed a way to keep the proletariat under control. Previously, individual employers such as guild masters were able to deal with individual employees on their own because of the close relationship between the two parties, who often lived in the same building for years. In contrast, the new proletarian class could not be managed on an individual level because it organized itself — and therefore acted — collectively.[2]
When the English proletariat reacted to its worsening living and working conditions with mass demonstrations in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the English bourgeoisie originally deployed the army to attack them, but killing demonstrators backfired by creating martyrs and further angering workers. Instructing the army to control crowds through nonviolent means was also ineffective, so a new institution had to be created to control the working class that would be violent, but ideally nonlethal. In 1829, Parliament passed the Metropolitan Police Act and the first modern police force was formed.[2]
Role of the police
The police exist to protect the class character of the state. Everyday police work involves patrolling: monitoring a specific area, where police become used to the area, gain experience using force, and identify local radicals. Patrolling lays the groundwork for suppressing uprisings.[2]
Crime
See main article: Crime
Statesian police never solve most crimes and spend the vast majority of their time on officer-initiated traffic stops and other minor issues.[3]
Firearm use
Unarmed police
The vast majority of police forces worldwide routinely carry firearms, usually to better suppress the proletariat, but some police forces do not regularly carry firearms except in exceptional circumstances, often in order to maintain the pretence they are "ethical". These countries and territories are: Bhutan, Botswana, Cook Islands, Fiji, Iceland, Ireland, Kiribati, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Norway, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, the United Kingdom (excluding Occupied Ireland), the U.S. Virgin Islands and Vanuatu.[4]
By country
United Kingdom
British police have infiltrated over 1,000 political, environmental, and social justice groups. They maintain a secret blacklist of radicals who are barred from jobs.[5]
United States
The police in the United States were created to put down resistance to settler colonialism and slavery and repress urban workers, mostly immigrants. U.S. Police have killed 1,000 or more people every year from 2013-2022.[6]Police in Black, Latino, or indigenous communities act as an occupying army.[7][8] Black people are 2.9 times as likely to be killed by police as white people,[9] and murders by police are a leading cause of death for Black men.[10] Police brutality was the main cause of the 2020 George Floyd protests. U.S. police also work with far-right groups such as the Oath Keepers, Project Veritas, and Traditionalist Worker Party.[11]
References
- ↑ "Cops: enforcers for the capitalist class" (2014-08-12). Liberation School. Archived from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 David Whitehouse (2014-12-07). "Origins of the police" Works in Theory. Retrieved 2025-06-21.
- ↑ Hassan Kanu (2022-11-02). "Police are not primarily crime fighters, according to the data" Reuters. Retrieved 2025-06-21.
- ↑ "Countries Where Police Don't Carry Guns 2024" (2024). World Population Review.
- ↑ Lowkey (2021-08-05). "SpyCops: How the UK Police Infiltrated Over 1,000 Political Groups" MintPress News. Archived from the original on 2022-01-25. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
- ↑ "Police Killed (#) People in the US in (year)" (2023-03-08). Mapping Police Violence. Archived from the original on 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
- ↑ "How can police brutality be stopped?" (2005-06-02). Liberation School. Archived from the original on 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ↑ "How will the police be abolished? A Marxist perspective" (2020-07-11). Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2022-07-04. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
- ↑ "Police killings per 1 million people in the U.S., 2013–2022" (2023-03-08). Mapping Police Violence. Archived from the original on 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
- ↑ Alan MacLeod (2020-12-28). "Killer Cops: Police Killed Over 1,000 Americans in 2020" MintPress News. Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
- ↑ Ted Rall (2018-11-08). "The Awful Reason Police Don’t Go After Right-Wing Extremists" Counterpunch. Archived from the original on 2021-11-25. Retrieved 2022-09-25.