The American penitentiary system, by many accounts, has failed. However, I think it's succeeded beautifully for its intended purpose: Producing more criminals. The system incentivizes lesser, non-violent criminals to commit larger and more harmful crimes by cutting their employability and potential paycheck by 40%, in addition to exposing them to in-prison gangs and criminal groups. This locks them into a life of crime, and ravages the local economy of various neighborhoods, continuing this morbid cycle of producing criminals. That's exactly what the state needs though, to justify increased police power. Police power is the most directly observable form of state control, which is control that only benefits those sitting at the top of the system. Police industries are a boon for America's war economy, not to mention being useful for subjugating the people.
Overall, the difficult transition we need to make isn't one that directly has to do with police. It's prison reform. Focusing our penitentiary system on rehabilitation and reducing crime in positive ways instead of negative ones is critical to breaking down the growing police state that's becoming America. This is what's needed to prevent another Ferguson.
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