Should we treat crime as something to be cured rather than punished? Scotland’s police force has adopted a public health model to tackle violence. Should the rest of the world follow suit?

This story reminds me of a radio program I listened to a while back about the Menlo Park blazer experiment. It’s definitely worth a listen (~30 mins), but tl;dl, there’s been an ongoing struggle between community service and militaristic policing.

Like this article, it highlights the importance of policing goals. In the program they talk about how changing the police uniform resulted in many officers, typically those with stronger egos, leaving because they missed what the uniform represented; they also talk about how it attracted a different kind of person to the police force for whom protecting and serving the community was more important than wielding and having the appearance of authority. Unfortunately it also shows how authority won out and has continues to win out today.

So when one of the architects of the crime as something treatable is suspicious of police carrying out the program, I share that suspicion. It is important the person carrying out this program has improving the community as their primary (if not only) reason for taking that job.

I'm all for seeing a more humane approach to policing brought to the United States, so I hope Scotland's experiment succeeds.