- Question
What is the role of the police in America?
The American police force has the capacity to do most anything, but there is currently much controversy about what exactly they should be doing. Given the police’s almost boundless authority, defining their job is imperative to maintaining our constitutional rights while keeping everyone as safe as possible.
To be re-envisioned
This position holds that the role of the police in America should be re-envisioned. It argues that, rather than serving as disciplinary and punitive forces, the police could act as rehabilitators—reimagined around restorative aims rather than punishment and control.
To enforce the legal system
This position holds that the role of the police in America is to enforce the legal system. It argues that the police are the working arm of the executive branch — deterring and preventing crime, making arrests, and carrying out the decisions of the legislature and judiciary.
To keep communities safe
This position holds that the role of the police in America is to keep communities safe. It argues that modern society is more hostile than the small communities of the past, and so needs police to keep the peace, serve and protect, and make towns secure places to live.
To hurt people & ruin lives
This position holds that the role of the police in America is to hurt people and ruin lives. It argues the police serve no purpose beyond perpetuating brutality and oppression, that officers bully others to boost their egos, and that they enforce a fundamentally racist agenda.