There’s a bill that’s moved forward that gives police MORE power. It criminalizes insulting them – to the point where they can actually take action against anyone who speaks against them in a way they don’t like! The details are disturbing.
Kentucky’s SB 211, by retired police officer Sen. Danny Carroll, makes it a crime to “provoke an officer verbally to the point it could provoke a violent response.” Based on this description, the blame is essentially on the VICTIM of police violence! This is dangerous.
Bills that target the few limited actions we can take in response to police violence make our situation even worse. If we can’t even speak, the police can kill us with impunity – and we’re legally at risk of being at fault for having said anything the cop deemed insulting.
Breonna Taylor was killed with no real consequences meted out. It was a travesty that’s known all around the world – but instead of working to make sure this never happens again they decided to prioritize punishing people around the anniversary of her death.
The systemic violence disproportionately levied against Black people requires us to work to dismantle the institution, not build it up further. Police don’t need more power, they need less. Prison industrial complex abolitionists around the country are working to achieve this goal every day.