The easy way

There are many questions I would ask of the bullies and authoritarian egomaniacs making embarrassing displays of their susceptibility to propaganda and fetish for "respect" this week.  But I think the first thing to ask is, what was the death toll?  How many people were killed or even injured by these TikToks and Instagram videos right wing online trolls and local TV stations are making sure everyone sees this week?  I don't see any injury reported to anything other than the egos of officialdom. 

Such stunt shows are nothing new to New Orleans or other urban centers in America, having grown into a social media-fueled craze that has left cities groping for answers. What made Sunday’s incidents different, Ferguson said, was the “total disrespect” patrons showed to police.

Ferguson said Mayor LaToya Cantrell was out of town Monday, but in a statement, Cantrell described the stunt shows as "reckless criminal behavior."

"These brazen actions have accelerated to a complete disregard and blatant disrespect for law enforcement. This ends now!" the statement read. "My administration stands with the New Orleans Police Department as they seek to increase criminal penalties associated with this type of behavior, and as they relentlessly pursue all perpetrators who place the public at risk."

What is the public being placed "at risk of"?  More to the point, where does it say the public owes "respect" of any sort to the police? If the events of the past week in Texas alone show us anything, it is that none of us owes police anything but scorn.  Heck, even the viral videos going around show police putting people at risk by plowing into spectators with their vehicles.  The "attack" on the car Chief Ferguson has been complaining about in the media is a direct result of this provocation.   

The only act of violence and actual harm to anyone I see in the video is when @NOPDNews drove a police cruiser into a crowd of people.

Maybe our local politicians missed this part? I see it’s been edited out of the clips that the media is circulating: https://t.co/KoOxrjAO99 pic.twitter.com/AfXtIjEEhO

— Hope (@HopeAPhelps) June 7, 2022

And hey look it worked!  The instant reaction triggered by a little viral copaganda is already paying off.

With the vast majority of police officer job candidates in New Orleans dropping out of the hiring process at an early stage, the City Council is poised to increase the budget for an outside non-profit’s recruiting effort.

New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation leaders told the council at a budget hearing Tuesday that the bump, from $500,000 per year to $900,000, could help them increase the share of applicants who make the cut and halt the police force's rapid decline in size.

There is no crisis the powers that be can manufacture in this city that can't be met with an immediate transfer of public dollars to one private non-profit or another.

Last week we were told the city can only afford to operate 5 of its 15 public swimming pools this summer.  But thank god there is money to pay a private foundation to do "police recruiting." That seems more useful.  After all, what do lifeguards even do?  Save people from drowning? Maintain a safe environment so that kids can have some healthy recreation instead of getting run over by NOPD provocateurs in the streets?  How can that possibly compare to what police do?  What do police do? 

Alex Pareene offered a theory this week. He says they do what is easiest. 

But even judged by their own cruel standards the police are extraordinarily lazy and incompetent. A study summarized by sociologist Brendan Beck in Slate earlier this year made a convincing case that more officers were associated mainly with more misdemeanor arrests. That is, the unimportant shit. It is nice to imagine that additional police spending will go to an army of Columbos solving the trickiest crimes. We are currently doing this experiment, with the real police, in real life, and it is proving that they are spending the money on throwing the belongings of homeless people into dumpsters.

It is easier to arrest a child for stealing chips than it is to apprehend an armed adult shooter. It is easier for several dozen police officers to arrest two unarmed people than it is for a cop to stop any single armed person. It is easier for hundreds of cops to kettle a largely unarmed left-wing protest than it is for an entire department to stop any armed right-wingers from entering a government building. It’s easier to clear homeless encampments than it is to investigate sexual assault. It’s easier to coerce confessions than it is to solve crimes. It’s easier to try to pull a guy over than it is to offer any sort of help when he crashes his car. It’s easier to arrest a mango vendor in the subway than to stop someone from bringing a gun into the subway. It’s easier to arrest a fifth grader than it is to save one’s life.

But it's not enough to say that police only do what is easiest. Of course they do that. Who can blame them, or anyone, for taking the easiest path to accomplishing whatever it is they are charged with? The overriding question is still about function.  Contrary to popular illusion, police do not prevent crime. Their actual task is to "serve and protect" the brutal regime of state enforced poverty and austerity we suffer under for the benefit of the rich. Police are the muscle that punishes us for resisting that regime. Why not spend $900,000 recruiting lifeguards instead?  At least they do something positive.

Politicians and media who derive their own corrupt wealth and status from obeisance to the regime have no moral standing to advise on this at all. These bullies who serve at the pleasure of the wealth class are angrily demanding you "respect" their police. You don't need to do that. Let them worry about it themselves.  The mayor and council, who can't agree on a whole lot lately, are now arguing over who loves cops the most correctly. 

Mayor LaToya Cantrell has proposed offering $5,000 bonuses for every five years of service. Council member Lesli Harris wants to offer annual 2% pay increases for officers.

I'm sure they'll work it out. In the meantime, they can still bask in their having come together to deliver nearly half a million dollars to a foundation. It's by far the easiest mission to accomplish.