Comments on: The Community Spoke Broken (into)

By: scott

scott — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:13:08 +0000

Scott N, you didn’t read their post did you?

By: Scott N

Scott N — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:02:12 +0000

The easy response. If the police are there to help and you are paying, through taxes, for their services whether you like it or not. Take the help and appreciate the fact that they are able to do so.

By: scott

scott — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:27:00 +0000

To really get at their untraditional reasoning for avoiding police involvement would take an extensive essay that isn’t suitable for a comment section, but I think they lay out a pretty solid perspective in their blog post, coupled with the spirit of their actions. I don’t think we could assume they are looking to resort to vigilantism (why is that bad anyways?) or “U-lock justice”. From what I gathered, they just want their stuff back and aren’t looking to necessarily establish some form of punishment. Hell, they encourage people NOT to resort to violence if the perpetrator is caught.

Ultimately, they are continuing their partnership with the surrounding neighborhood and not relying on the police to do the work they can do with the help of the people they serve. I see that as highly commendable…and more effective in not only getting their property back, but also sticking by their communal ideals.

Again, there are so many other points to be made about not involving the police, but it’s probably best to read through their post and do some deep consideration on the issue.

By: drinkslinger

drinkslinger — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:58:29 +0000

I applaud TCS! for their community activism. I have to respectfully disagree with their stance on police involvement. I can understand TCS! not wanting to create tension in their community, although from my own experiences with burglary and bike thefts, the perpetrators tend to be a part of the community they have victimized and have done so on more than one occasion.
The only problem with asking for info on who is responsible for this without law enforcement involvement is what happens when those responsible are caught? Vigilantism? U-lock justice?

That having been said, while I don’t agree with TCS! choice in the matter I do understand their reasoning and hope that the bikes, tools, and whatnot are recovered with a minimum of fuss.

Sometimes the best way to monkeywrench the system is from inside it.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:06:19 +0000

>The simple answer is that involving the police is at odds with our established points of unity. We have written and agreed that “we seek to challenge the root causes of social and environmental injustice by creating community-based alternatives and fostering a spirit of mutual aid” and that “our community workshop and mobile repair stations are safe spaces free from oppression, violence and weapons.” The police are an organization that doles out oppression and violence and we as a community can do better.

“The police are an organization that doles out oppression and violence…”

Wow, generalize much?

-Jacob