The Hood Doesn’t Need Cops—It Needs Power

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When people talk about crime, the solution always seems to be more cops. More patrols. More funding. More surveillance. But if police made us safe, the hood would be the safest place on Earth.


Instead, we’ve got neighborhoods saturated with cops—and still dealing with poverty, trauma, evictions, overdoses, and violence. So here’s the truth:


The hood doesn’t need cops. It needs power.



Policing Was Never About Protection



Let’s start at the roots. American policing evolved from slave patrols—groups paid to hunt down Black people who dared escape bondage. That DNA didn’t die. It just got a badge, a gun, and a PR department.


Today, police don’t protect us—they patrol us. Harass us. Kill us. They show up after harm is done, write a report, and disappear. Unless, of course, they decide you’re the threat.


They call it public safety. But what they mean is control.



What Does Safety Really Look Like?


Safety isn’t about sirens. It’s about stability.

It’s food in the fridge. Rent paid on time. A clean hoodie. A safe place to cry. A neighbor who knows your name.


You can’t police your way out of poverty. You can’t arrest your way into healing.

If the root is pain, the solution has to be care.


So what do we replace police with? Not nothing. Something better.



Alternatives Already Exist—We Just Don’t Fund Them



1. Community Self-Defense

Organizing isn’t new. From the Black Panthers to mutual aid crews today, communities have been defending themselves long before 911 was an option.


Block patrols. De-escalation squads. Street medics. These aren’t fantasies—they’re already happening.


2. Conflict Resolution and Transformative Justice

Instead of calling the cops, what if we built systems to address harm directly? That means trained mediators, accountability circles, and community healing—not cages.


This doesn’t mean ignoring harm. It means dealing with it in ways that don’t make it worse.


3. Mental Health First Response

Cops show up with guns to wellness checks and end up killing people. It’s not a bug—it’s a feature. We need trained, unarmed mental health teams who understand crisis, not criminalize it.


Programs like CAHOOTS in Oregon and STAR in Denver are saving lives without guns. Why isn’t that the norm?


4. Youth Investment Over Youth Incarceration

We spend more locking up kids than educating them. More funding for ankle monitors than after-school programs. We know what works—mentorship, jobs, safe spaces. The system just doesn’t care.



Abolition Isn’t Absence—It’s Presence


When we say abolish the police, people act like we’re calling for chaos. But abolition isn’t about tearing down without building up. It’s about replacing a system of punishment with one of possibility.


Imagine what we could do with a $12 billion NYPD budget if we actually invested in our people.


  • Free, quality mental health care
  • Fully funded public schools
  • Affordable housing for every family
  • Universal basic income
  • Restorative justice programs in every neighborhood



That’s not a dream. That’s a blueprint.



Power Is Protection

We don’t need police—we need power.

Power to decide what safety looks like in our own communities.

Power to intervene in violence before it starts.

Power to heal, to build, to lead.


Because here’s the thing: the cops didn’t stop the violence—we did.

We’re the ones doing CPR in the street.

We’re the ones raising funds for funerals.

We’re the ones checking in on kids, feeding our neighbors, keeping each other safe when the sirens fade.


We’ve always had the power. It’s time to reclaim it.



CALL TO ACTION: Dismantle the Badge, Build the Block



1. Learn and Teach the History

Study police abolition and community alternatives. Share it in your group chats, your churches, your barbershops.

Start here:


  • Mariame Kaba – “We Do This ’Til We Free Us”
  • Ruth Wilson Gilmore – “Golden Gulag”
  • Critical Resistance – criticalresistance.org



2. Support Local Abolitionist Work

Find grassroots orgs in your city that are building alternatives. Donate. Volunteer. Show up.

Some examples:




3. Organize Your Own Block

Don’t wait for policy. Build care networks where you are. Share food. Offer rides. Check on elders. Hold space for grief. That’s abolition in action.




Next up: “Raising Kings in a Carceral State: Black Fatherhood on Lockdown.”


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