Thread by @equalityAlec

THREAD. Journalists should be more interested in the gap between what police talk about and what they do. Almost all police media statements are about "violent crime." But almost none (4%) of police time is spent on "violent crime." Why is this important?

First, we must recognize that police propaganda in the media is effective. Most people in the U.S. have no idea that 96% of all police time is spent on things even the police call "nonviolent," because the media doesn't report on that other stuff much.

https://twitter.com/equalityAlec/status/1422949477850177547

Second, we should be skeptical of people who don't talk about most of what they do! Why don't police talk about the bulk of their time/money: trespassing, drug possession, suspended licenses for debts, civil forfeiture seizures, evictions, mental health calls, shoplifting, etc..?

Third, it's striking that, every time police are challenged on their wasteful budgets, they revert to "violent crime" talking points when we could eliminate over 90% of their budgets without touching what police now devote to "violent crime."

Fourth, zooming out to prosecutors and judges, we see a pattern: none of the punishment bureaucrats are willing to defend in public the vast bulk of what they do every day: processing and punishing low-level nonviolent behavior of the poor in ways they know has no social benefit.

Fifth, it's striking that more journalists don't confront police, prosecutors, and judges with their misleading statements about how they spend their time. It would be helpful to see these bureaucrats respond to questions like: why do you enforce shoplifting but not wage theft?

Sixth, if more journalists forced punishment bureaucrats to confront the actual evidence about what they do, imagine how different the public conversation would be:

https://twitter.com/equalityAlec/status/1380200486129795082

Finally, even with the small % of time devoted to "violence," it's striking that media don't treat cops and prosecutors like climate deniers, given scientific consensus that human caging leads to *no reduction* in crime.

https://twitter.com/equalityAlec/status/1447626572521934849