Guiding Questions

• What is the proper role of law enforcement in a just society?

• When is the use of force legitimate — and when is it abuse?

• Who decides what “order” means — and who benefits from it?

Justice or Control?

Police are often described as guardians of the law. But history and experience show that they can also be:

• Agents of repression

• Enforcers of inequality

• Symbols of fear rather than safety

For many communities — especially those marginalized by race, class, or immigration status — law enforcement does not always feel like protection.

When Force Becomes Violence

The power to detain, search, or use physical force is immense.

But power without accountability can lead to:

• Racial profiling

• Excessive use of force

• Unjustified shootings

• Suppression of protest

• Abuse inside prisons and jails

Justice must ask not just whether the law is broken, but how it is enforced — and on whom.

Historical Context

• In many countries, police forces originated as tools to protect property and suppress uprisings.

• In the U.S., early Southern police grew out of slave patrols.

• Globally, police have often been used to defend colonial rule or authoritarian regimes.

• Even democratic states have used law enforcement to surveil and suppress dissent.

Understanding this history challenges us to ask: Is law enforcement serving the people — or power?

Philosophical Perspectives

Max Weber

Defined the state as the entity that “claims the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force.”

Michel Foucault

Warned that modern societies control people not just through laws, but through discipline — constant observation, categorization, and correction.

Angela Davis

Argues that policing and prisons are deeply tied to structural racism and economic injustice — and must be reimagined, not just reformed.

Two Perspectives

Law and Order

Force is necessary to maintain peace. Lawbreakers must be confronted swiftly and firmly.

Justice and Accountability

Power must be checked. The goal is not order at any cost — but fairness, safety, and dignity for all.

A Thought Experiment

Imagine two protests:

• One is about environmental protection, led by middle-class students.

• The other is about police brutality, led by people of color.

Police respond calmly to the first.

They show up in riot gear to the second.

Why the difference?

Who is seen as a “threat”?

Who is presumed innocent — and who is not?

Reimagining Public Safety

• Demilitarize police — shift from combat to community

• Community policing — build trust, not fear

• Civilian oversight — independent review of misconduct

• Decriminalize poverty — stop arresting for homelessness or minor offenses

• Invest in social services — housing, mental health, education

• Restorative justice — alternatives to punishment-based systems

Reflect and Discuss

• Do you feel safer — or more at risk — around police? Why?

• When is force justified? Who should decide?

• What does real safety mean — and who provides it?

Suggested Readings

• Angela Y. Davis – Are Prisons Obsolete?

• Alex S. Vitale – The End of Policing

• James Baldwin – A Report from Occupied Territory

• Michelle Alexander – The New Jim Crow

• United Nations – Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials