Police reform isn't necessarily a bad idea, but I do tend to think a lot of the anger against police is misplaced anger against things like gentrification, income inequality, poverty and so forth.
Also I notice (my own hunch at least) some parts of life are less funky, in a way, than in years past. Cities are trying to "clean up the city." When I was a child, we wandered around town with less worry and supervision. Bad things happened, but there was less worry and awareness of it.
Now society demands a higher level of safety. Seatbelts, for instance. Drunk driving laws more enforced. Often for good reason, but not everyone fits those molds easily.
The police are like at the knife edge of a blade cutting through. They get the blame as they are often the bringers of the bad news in efforts to keep the town more tidy.
One of the problems that we have is that poverty is criminalized. There are laws against sleeping in an RV on city streets, for instance.
Some of these laws are now not being enforced, which is good. Looking back, the laws were problematic. Now, with the virus and the Boise court ruling on homelessness, things may be changing for the better.
We could accept RVs, tiny homes and even, in some cases tents, as a legitimate form of low income housing by admitting to the fact that other housing is in short supply.
We could work with the situation as it is to improve things with various technologies. The smartphone is already used as contact. People can have PO boxes. Composting toilets can help in RVs, there can be trash pickup. Some areas can have reasonable fees for things like trash pickup and water.
Admit that we are a bit like a third world country. Try and make the best of the reality of these situations, rather than criminalizing then.
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