Posted on 03/16/2013 10:49:36 AM PDT by AuntB
The indigenous town of Cherán used to be like many places in Mexico, caving under the weight of drug-related crime and a police force that did little to stop it.
But about two years ago, citizens here threw out the police, and took over their local government, running the town according to indigenous tradition. So far, they’ve had remarkable success.
Indigenous autonomy movements, like the one in Cherán, are a trend throughout Latin America, scholars say, from movements like the Zapatistas in Chiapas in the 1990s; to communities seeking to self-govern today in places like Chile and Bolivia.
The response from national governments can vary wildly, says Shannon Speed, professor of anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin.
“Cherán has been in part so successful because of the particular context in which it happened, one in which government doesn’t have much control to begin with. So it’s pretty happy to say, ‘Sure, go govern yourself,’” says Ms. Speed, who specializes in indigenous issues, human rights, and the law.
As Mexico's drug violence progresses, and more citizen self-defense groups spring up, what makes Cherán unique is its focus on a formal system of indigenous autonomy, rather than vigilante justice, and the fragile peace that persists.
'No one paid any attention'
Tucked into the hills of Michoacán state, the small town of Cherán is surrounded by a mix of dense forests, golden swathes of cornfields, and gentle streams. The Purépecha indigenous people have lived in this area for centuries, relying on a mix of subsistence farming and selective timber harvesting.
“These forests are our inheritance,” says Trinidad Ramirez, a local leader. “Our grandparents taught us how to live with the forest, to live together inside the forest, connected to it."
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
Since 90% of police work is filing reports, most police forces SHOULD be abandoned. We would be far better off.
The solution to expensive police in American cities is to need less police. More responsible armed citizens is a lot cheaper than hiring more cops.
Makes sense to me: fewer criminals means less crime. Armed citizens raises the price of crime - might stop some young people from getting involved.
Our local police have an online report that can be filled out without the presence of a police officer.
When my little town still had cops they were primarily ticket writers who occasionally moderated disputes.
It isn’t an indigenous movement, it is a vigilante movement
The Minute Men could be described in the same words.
Who is going to do the traffic problems? Who responds to armed robberies, domestic disputes, etc.? You need trained people for these things. Doing without an organized police force is a ridiculous idea.
A town I lived in defunded the whole police department after they went on a viscous campaign of harassment against citizens. First they tried to replace the police chief but when the harassment continued, the citizens took out the whole police force.
Better to have armed citizens with no local police than to have corrupt police.
Makes sense for the Mexicans at least. I know someone who’s from that part of the world (cant stand Zero, very pro-2A, believe it or not) and he says the Mexican police make the TSA look good, and you know how hard that is.
We have a sheriff’s deputy roll through town about once a month these days. Our local cops weren’t bad but they weren’t worth the expense.
I see this happening in the United States in the near future.
I translated and transcribed much of the material for dissertation written by a Japanese Ph.D. candidate in Japan. He had gone to Oaxaca and talked to some socialist bastard who was bitching about how the PRI had all the power when the Japanese guy asked “But the PRI are socialist, and aren’t you as well?”
It was funny. Some of the info about how Oaxaca indians have indigenous courts and police etc was interesting, and it seems as though it has expanded, because only Oaxaca state was allowed to have them.
The PRI in the 50s-80s used to send a burro team and a couple of gov’t workers over the hill into indigenous areas and harvest the indian’s coffee for a pittance. Then Starbucks showed up and other organic coffee companies and offered to build roads, electrical supplies, schools, running water, AND they would pay 10X the amount the Mexican gov’t paid. It was a really interesting dissertation.
Sorry, if I clipped you. A few previous posters mentioned doing away with police forces completely. That’s insane.
No problem.
There are a lot of things that police should still do like crime scene investigations, traffic control etc. I’d just like to see the numbers brought down to a manageable level through a more crime free society.
There are approximately 3000 officers on the Detroit police force. In my opinion a good responsibly armed public could cut that number in half.
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