February 19, 2026
Crowd control or crime control?
Why Do the Police Exist? (2020)
From "protect the rich" to "clean up my street"—comments clash
TLDR: An article argues modern policing was built to manage crowds and property, not stop crime. Comments explode: one reader says cops only ticketed him while another says a police crackdown erased dealers on his street; the debate asks who feels safer and what “defund” really means.
An explosive history lesson says modern police weren’t built to stop crime but to control crowds and shield the wealthy, from colonial Ireland to London’s factories. Cue comment chaos: bediger4000 recalls every cop interaction hurting him—mostly tickets—and unhelpful theft reports, musing on “defund the police.” Nods and eye-rolls followed.
Then sjducb swings in with a blunt counter: after a big crackdown, county-lines drug dealing on his street disappeared and hasn’t returned. The thread splits: one camp cheers “proof policing works,” the other says that’s crowd management, not prevention. Memes fly—“blue locusts” becomes the catchphrase, traffic fines rebranded the “speed tax,” and someone riffs that Sir Robert Peel invented “crowd-control-as-a-service.” The mood: spicy, messy, and deeply personal. Some cite the Peterloo Massacre as origin story; others shrug, wanting results now. The fight boils down to property vs people, historical intent vs present impact, and whether “defund” means rethink or remove. Everyone agrees on one thing: whatever policing was built for, it still shapes who feels safe—and who doesn’t. Bayley’s claim that police don’t prevent crime becomes a dare, with skeptics posting “show me stats” while cynics reply “show me my bike.” Between history and the curb, thread turns into a referendum.
Key Points
- •Modern police forces emerged in the late 18th–early 19th centuries, with aims tied to protecting affluent interests and managing populations.
- •Britain’s first police force originated in colonial Ireland, shaping models later applied in UK industrial cities.
- •Sir Robert Peel founded the Metropolitan Police in 1829 after developing policing strategies during his tenure as Irish secretary.
- •Early policing concentrated on working-class communities, enforcing public order and targeting activities like gambling, drunkenness, union organizing, and suffrage.
- •Enlightenment penal reformers, including Cesare Beccaria, provided intellectual foundations for policing and crowd control, emphasizing order through measures like street lighting and sermons.