Friday, July 10, 2020

Defunded Police and the Wisdom of Crowds

In a decision worthy of a latter day Solomon, the Seattle City Council once again shows us the way. First they demonstrated how to effectively operate a small community without police (CHAZ/CHOP) and now they show us how to extend that success to the community at large:

The majority of Seattle City Council is now backing proposals to defund Seattle’s police department by 50%, despite concerns from the mayor’s office and Seattle’s police chief.

What could go wrong?

A coalition called Decriminalize Seattle presented a plan to the budget committee to redirect millions from the city budget to community organizations.

According to the coalition, its plan to reallocate more than $200 million from the Seattle Police Department’s budget would replace current 911 operations with a civilian-controlled system; scaled up community-led solutions; an investment in housing; and a fund for a “community-created roadmap to life without policing.”

Great. Let’s keep the  Questionable Wisdom of Crowds** in play as long as possible.

crowd

** How bad news becomes increasingly negative, inaccurate and hysterical when passed from person to person: "Society is an amplifier for risk. This research explains why our world looks increasingly threatening despite consistent reductions in real-world threats.

"It also shows that the more people share information, the further that information gets from the facts and the more resilient it becomes to correction."  (like – cough, cough – COVID)

And good luck with that “community-created roadmap to life without policing.”

How to build a roadmap in 3½ steps | Hacker Noon

I hope it comes with detailed operating instructions:

Too many requirements make a product too complex? Add