The Role of the Police Under Capitalism

Police brutality is nothing new and recent years have seen countless victims of police
murder and violence, from the USA to the UK. Many violent and often fatal encounters
with the police have been caught on video by witnesses or CCTV cameras. Yet,
consequences rarely ever come for the police officers involved. How could this be?

Whether in the US or the UK, the police have a long history of violence against
ordinary people, reaching all the way back to the Met Police's inception in the 1800s.
In recent months we have seen their attacks on demonstrators and protestors, even
against those attending the vigil for Sarah Everard at Clapham Common. The violence we
saw in Clapham extends across our society, far beyond protests or demonstrations. In
the UK, according to Inquest, over 300 people died between 2019 and 2020, either in
police custody or shortly following contact with the police. These victims were
disproportionately black, poor or both.

In the past year, after the murder of George Floyd, people taking to the streets have
brought attention to the hundreds of people lost to police violence.

People such as Christopher Alder, who, in 1998 was taken to a police station in Hull
having been injured in a fight and later arrested. Alder never made it out of the
police station alive. His last moments were caught on CCTV footage. The video showed
him being dragged into the station and left on the floor, unconscious. Officers could
be seen standing around his motionless body, laughing and joking between themselves. 12
minutes later, they noticed he was not breathing and shortly after, he was pronounced
dead at the scene. In 2000, a coroner’s inquest decided Alder’s death was unlawful and
5 police officers went on trial for manslaughter and misconduct. All 5 were acquitted.

Christopher Alder’s shocking death at the hands of the police is one example on an
extensive list. The list of police officers found guilty of any wrongdoing in relation
to these deaths? Minuscule. Since 1969, just one police officer has been convicted for
their role in the death of someone in their care.

Defenders of the police will argue that any wrongdoing is committed by a few “bad
apples”. Most believe that the police exist to protect and serve and that we need them
to protect us from crime. Therefore, we’re shocked at the idea that a police officer
could be accused of murder or assault.

Perhaps if we understood the real role of the police we wouldn’t be shocked at all.
What if their role is not to protect ordinary people at all? What if violence,
intimidation, threat and death are direct results of the actual role that the police
play in our society? This role being to exert control over the masses, defend the
interests of the rich and maintain capitalism. After all, these were the reasons for
the establishment of the Met Police in the first place. When one understands this as
the role of the police, one can understand how they can cause such bloodshed with
impunity.

It is a fantasy to believe that a force created by the rich few to control the many
would protect or serve ordinary people. We should not expect them to be something they
are not. They exist fundamentally to maintain this unequal system.