What does the necessity of the police say about us as a society?

Question

I live in what I think of as a civil society -

I like to think it is reasonably safe etc -


But in this "civil" society there is a knowledge that if the police disapeared for any reason society on the whole would break down -

Anarchy the law of the jungle would be a matter of time -

If days passed or weeks or even if it took a whole month - it would change for the worse and disintergrate into somthing primal -


What does that really say about us humans in the most civilized portions of the western world ?


At one point we did not need police - but that was way back when - we were a tribal society of hunter gather's and small farming villiages - Even then crime happened - but it was a self policed society


I am curious what the absolute necesity of the police says not only about us but about our society as a whole

Answer 1

We need the police because we are not as decent or law abiding as we like to think. People that do illegal things tend to do them because they think they will not get caught. So take "getting caught" out of the picture completely, and what do you get? A LOT of crime at all levels.

Answer 2

Up until the 19th Century, we didn't really have police. Before that, there were only a few felonies (The penalty for any felony was death, believe it or not). People didn't have much stuff to steal anyway. And you were expected to pretty much help yourself when you were the victim of a crime. It worked to some extent, but self-help has its limitations. What if you are wrong? Have you been accused of doing something you didn't really do?

At least with the police, they may look at the situation objectively. That's not to say its a perfect system, but I'd rather have the police arrest me and put me in front of a judge than have people stone me to death because the consensus is that I committed a felony a few minutes before.

I also think that the advent of police is a symptom of societal evolution. As society becomes more complicated, specialization occurs. That is, instead of everyone doing all the jobs that are available, as in hunter-gatherer societies, some people do some jobs and other people do other jobs. People are able to specialize. So I don't have to worry about doing the job of the police or the military or the street sweeper. Someone else does those things and I concentrate on what I do. Before specialization, I would have to act as the police, the military, the farmer, etc.

Are there more murders and other crimes than there were during hunter-gatherer times (per capita)? No. Things are better. The advent of police is just another example of societal evolution.

Is there more crime in the US than in other Western Industrialized countries? Well, that's another question.

Answer 3

It says nothing. If the police disappeared, we would create another enforcement mechanism for the necessary rules of our society. "The law of the jungle" among humans was NOT anarchy, nor is it among animals. Even the most primitive societies had 3 things: 1) a spiritual/religious belief system; 2) societal rules and a method of enforcement; and 3) absolute taboos. We are still a self-policed society, but simply on a larger scale. Even the smallest, primitive tribe forms social classes and enforces rules. Their "police" might only be a chief or religious leader, but there is an enforcement mechanism. Their taboos may be more or less extensive than ours, but they do exist. In Navajo society even today, family members subject to the universal incest taboo may number in the scores because any member of your mother's or father's clan is a relative. We still have small Indian tribes in New Mexico that are led by a "tesuque"--one religious leader. But that person has absolute authority to enforce the rules of that tribe. We will never be without some type of police. Freedom is the constraints we put upon the exercize of police powers. We will never be without classes. No classless society has every existed. We will never be without rules. Every society has developed the necessary rules for internal and external protection. These rules always have a basis in some spiritual or religious belief. Trout-good to see another great posting from you.

Answer 4

It shows good organisation; the necessity has existed throughout history, since crime has been recorded since ancient times. It isn't a negative thing since it indicates the awareness that not everyone abides by the code of conduct each society has developed and it is there to protect the law-abiding in principle, though the practice may be otherwise.

Answer 5

I feel that as long as the criminals have all of the rights in this country there will always be the need for police. The law abidding citizens in this country are fraid to take the law into their hands therefore you have the police. I feel that this need should go one step further and put some policing body over the police themselves. If you look around you they break more laws daily than any other groups of individuals combined.

Answer 6

No, regulation and order are a heavily important element of any society. you could no longer have society devoid of it. In any group of human beings you will locate human beings of all varieties and characters and ideas. regulations are in place to stop the naughty ones benefit an out of control benefit over the sturdy and principled ones. regulations at the beginning grant a deterrent of commonplace punishments, and then whilst somebody breaks the regulation, the systems are in place to choose them and punish the in charge. devoid of those important techniques and regulations in place, everyone would desire to do something to everyone else and cheat and thieve and wreck aside civilized society. Society devoid of regulations continuously fails. there'll continuously be those with a criminal attitude, with a view to continuously ought to have regulation enforcement in place to combat them and shop the peace.

Answer 7

It's just because people are stupid and sheeplike. If the police suddenly disappeared, a few bad apples would start looting, then otherwise good people would follow, just because. It says that society is made up of people who are human and nothing more...

Answer 8

What does the necessity of the police say about us as a society?

It says that our society includes HUMANS.

Answer 9

The need for police - or some such supervisory force - has been with us for millenia, and will continue to so as long as violent, selfish, lazy, greedy and inconsiderate people exist. i.e. Indefinitely.

Answer 10

The need for police says that we are all imperfect as every person ever born has been