Catalogue Number
NMLH.2024.32
Object Name
placard
Title
'No Justice No Peace Abolish The Police'
Description
A cardboard placard with the text 'No Justice No Peace Abolish The Police' on the face and 'Close Prisons Build Community' on the reverse.
It is unknown when or where this placard was used.
Police abolitionists often argue that refocusing from policing to social interventions at earlier stages leads to better outcomes, as many crimes including some types of theft and anti-social behaviour are rooted in social problems like poverty, mental illness, addiction and oppression. They argue that arresting and imprisoning people doesn't address these root causes. An example of this sort of refocusing would be for people stealing food because they have no money to pay for it to instead be fed, referred to food banks, and given support to access any funding they might be eligable for.
Prison abolitionists also argue that the focus on imprisoning convicted people, and building more prisons to house them does not prevent recidivism (formerly incarcerated people committing additional crimes after leaving prison), as the cost of incarceration leaves little money for rehabilitation schemes to operate either in prison (eg addiction services) or to support people leaving prison to adjust to the outside world (eg employment training schemes).
