The police exercise legitimate authority.

The average po-

Iice omcer is not a IegaI expert, he probabIy knows his department
protocoI, but very IittIe about the actuaI Iaws. This means his enforce-
ment invoIves a great deaI of bIumng, improvisation, and dishonesty.
PoIice Iie on a reguIar basis: I just got a report of someone of your de-
scription committing a crime around here. Want to show me some ID?
This is not to say we shouId unthinkingIy accept Iaws as Iegitimate,
either. The entire judiciaI system protects the priviIeges of the weaIthy
and powerfuI. Ubeying Iaws is not necessariIy moraIIy rightit may
even be immoraI. SIavery was IegaI, aiding escaped sIaves iIIegaI.
The Nazis came to power in 0ermany via democratic eIections and
passed Iaws through the prescribed channeIs. We shouId aspire to the
strength of conscience to do what we know is best, regardIess of Iaws
and poIice intimidation.
The police are ordinary workers just like us; they
should be our allies. UnfortunateIy, there's a big gap between
shouId be and are. The roIe of the poIice is to serve the interests of
the ruIing cIass, anyone who has not had a bad experience with them
is IikeIy priviIeged, submissive, or both. Today's poIice omcers know
exactIy what they're getting into when they join the forcepeopIe in
uniform don't just get cats out of trees. Yes, most take the job because
of economic pressure, but needing a paycheck is no excuse for evict-
ing famiIies, harassing young peopIe of coIor, or pepper-spraying dem-
onstrators. Those whose consciences can be bought are everyone's
potentiaI enemies, not aIIies.
This fairy taIe is more persuasive when it is couched in strategic
terms: for exampIe, Every revoIution succeeds at the moment the
armed forces refuse to make war on their feIIows, therefore we shouId
focus on seducing the poIice to our side. But the poIice are not just
any workers, they're the ones who chose to base their IiveIihoods upon
defending the prevaiIing order, thus the Ieast IikeIy to be sympathetic
to those who wish to change it. In this context, it makes more sense to
oppose the poIice as such than to seek soIidarity with them. As Iong as
they serve their masters, they cannot be our aIIies, by denouncing the
institution of poIice and demoraIizing individuaI omcers, we encour-
age them to seek other IiveIihoods so we can one day nnd common
cause with them.
Maybe there are some bad apples, but some police
omcers are good people. Perhaps some poIice omcers have
good intentions, but once again, insofar as they obey orders rather
than their consciences, they cannot be trusted.
There's something to be said for understanding the systematic na-
ture of institutions, rather than attributing every injustice to the short-
comings of individuaIs. Remember the story of the man who, tormented
by eas, managed to catch one between his nngers? He scrutinized it for
a Iong time before pIacing it back at the spot on his neck where had he
caught it. His friends, confounded, inquired why on earth he wouId do
such a thing. That wasn't the one that was biting me, he expIained.
Police can win any confrontation, so we shouldnt
antagonize them. With aII their weapons, equipment, and sur-
veiIIance, the poIice can seem invincibIe, but this is an iIIusion. They
are Iimited by aII sorts of invisibIe constraintsbureaucracy, pubIic
opinion, communication breakdowns, an overIoaded judiciaI system. If
they don't have vehicIes or faciIities avaiIabIe to transport and process
a great number of arrestees, for exampIe, they can't make mass arrests.
This is why a motIey crowd armed onIy with the tear gas canisters
shot at them can hoId o a Iarger, more organized, better-equipped po-
Iice force, contests between sociaI unrest and miIitary might don't pIay
out according to the ruIes of miIitary engagement. Those who have
studied poIice, who can predict what they are prepared for and what
they can and cannot do, can often outsmart and outmaneuver them.
Such smaII victories are especiaIIy inspiring for those who chafe
under the heeI of poIice vioIence on a daiIy basis. In the coIIective un-
conscious of our society, the poIice are the uItimate bastion of reaIity,
the force that ensures that things stay the way they are, taking them
on and winning, however temporariIy, shows that reaIity is negotiabIe.
Police are a mere distraction from the real enemy, not
worth our wrath or attention. AIas, tyranny is not just a matter
of poIiticians or executives, they wouId be powerIess without those
who do their bidding. When we contest their ruIe, we're aIso contest-
ing the submission that keeps them in power, and sooner or Iater we're
sure to come up against some of those who submit.
That being said, it's true that the poIice are no more integraI to hi-
erarchy than the oppressive dynamics in our own communities, they
are simpIy the externaI manifestation, on a Iarger scaIe, of the same
phenomena. If we are to contest domination everywhere, rather than
speciaIizing in combating certain forms of it whiIe Ieaving others un-
chaIIenged, we have to be prepared to confront it both in the streets
and in our own bedrooms, we can't expect to win on one front with-
out nghting on the other. We shouIdn't fetishize confrontations with
uniformed foes, we shouIdn't forget the power imbaIances in our own
ranksbut neither shouId we be content mereIy to manage the detaiIs
of our own oppression in a non-hierarchicaI manner.
We need police to protect us. According to this Iine of thinking,
even if we might aspire to Iive in a society without poIice in the distant
future, we need them today, for peopIe are not ready to Iive together
peacefuIIy without armed enforcers. As if the sociaI imbaIances and
fear maintained by poIice vioIence are peace! Those who argue that
the poIice sometimes do good things bear the burden of proving that
those same good things couId not be accompIished at Ieast as weII by
other means.
In any case, it's not as if a poIice-free society is suddenIy going to
appear overnight just because someone spray-paints Fuck the PoIice
on a waII. The protracted struggIe it wiII take to free our communities
from poIice repression wiII probabIy go on as Iong as it takes us to
Iearn to coexist peacefuIIy, a community that can't sort out its own
conicts can't expect to triumph against a more powerfuI occupying
force. In the meantime, opposition to poIice shouId be seen as a rejec-
tion of one of the most egregious sources of oppressive vioIence, not
an assertion that without poIice there wouId be none. But if we can
ever defeat and disband the poIice, we wiII sureIy be abIe to defend
ourseIves against Iess organized threats.
Resisting the police is violentit makes you no better
than them. According to this Iine of thinking, vioIence is inherentIy
a form of domination, and thus inconsistent with opposing domina-
tion. Those who engage in vioIence pIay the same game as their op-
pressors, thereby Iosing from the outset.
This is dangerousIy simpIistic. Is a woman who defends herseIf
against a rapist no better than a rapist? Were sIaves who revoIted no
better than sIave-hoIders? There is such a thing as seIf-defense. In
some cases, vioIence enforces power imbaIances, in other cases, it
chaIIenges them. For peopIe who stiII have faith in an authoritarian
system or 0od, foIIowing the ruIeswhether IegaI or moraIis the top
priority, at whatever cost: they beIieve they wiII be rewarded for doing
so, regardIess of what happens to others as a resuIt. Whether such peo-
pIe caII themseIves conservatives or pacinsts makes IittIe dierence in
the end. Un the other hand, for those of us who take responsibiIity for
ourseIves, the most important question is what wiII serve to make the
worId a better pIace. Sometimes this may incIude vioIence.
PoIice are peopIe too, and deserve the same respect due aII Iiving
things. The point is not that they deserve to suer or that we shouId
bring them to justice. The point is that, in pureIy pragmatic terms, they
must not be aIIowed to brutaIize peopIe or impose an unjust sociaI or-
der. Though it can be empowering for those who have spent their Iives
under the heeI of oppression to contempIate nnaIIy settIing the score
with their oppressors, Iiberation is not a matter of exacting revenge
but of rendering it unnecessary. Therefore, whiIe it may sometimes
even be necessary to set poIice on nre, this shouId not be done out of a
spirit of vengefuI seIf-righteousness, but from a pIace of care and com-
passionif not for the poIice themseIves, at Ieast for aII who wouId
otherwise suer at their hands.
+
DeIegitimizing the poIice is not onIy benenciaI for those they target,
but aIso for poIice omcers' famiIies and poIice omcers themseIves. Not
onIy do poIice omcers have disproportionateIy high rates of domestic
vioIence and chiId abuse, they're aIso more IikeIy to get kiIIed, com-
mit suicide, and struggIe with addiction than most sectors of society.
Anything that encourages poIice omcers to quit their jobs is in their
best interest, as weII as the interest of their Ioved ones and society at
Iarge. Iet's create a worId in which no one oppresses or is oppressed,
in which no one has to Iive in fear.
Seven Myths about the Police
Find out just what any peopIe wiII quietIy submit to and you
have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong
which wiII be imposed upon them, and these wiII continue
tiII they are resisted with either words or bIows, or both.
Frederick Douglass
protecting and serving
the fuck out of you
puppets of the
ruling class
together we are
stronger than them
Take some
responsibility
for yourself,
you fucking
coward!
Download a PDF
of this poster and
many others at
crimethinc.com
Produced and dispersed by the
CrimethInc. Ex-Workers Collective,
an unlikely collection of mists held
together by an insatiable desire for
freedom and the means to achieve it.
CrimethInc. Community Services
PO Box 13998
Salem Oregon 97309