Thanks for your thoughtful response.

I can’t speak to your experience, obviously. I can only speak to mine: growing up in a Southern state rife with hate groups and your average everyday racists, we see Black folks being victimized at every stage of their contacts with law enforcement: from the way their communities are treated like war zones, to near-constant harassment by the cops for even minuscule violations, to being roughed up (and even killed) by police, to the cash bail system, to the biased judicial system…and because the racists have taken great care not to base any of this specifically on race, many poor white folks and immigrants get caught in the same traps.

I think we’re in agreement that the solutions aren’t simply putting more cops with bigger guns on the street. We’ve got to rebuild our safety net in all the ways you pointed out. Better schools. After-school programs. Free or affordable child care. Support for single parents — for all parents, really. More social workers who are trained well and have reasonable caseloads. Free or very cheap treatment for mental health and addiction. Etc.

But that can’t be done without money. As long as the police are eating up the lion’s share of any town’s resources, they can’t do it. And honestly, it’s not fair to ask the police to fix all these problem. They should be able to just focus on their actual jobs — law enforcement. Protecting the innocent and stopping the guilty.

There are so many fundamental reforms needed beyond the police department, it can be overwhelming. I think most of us want the same thing — safe, healthy communities — we just have to work together over the long haul to make it happen.