Because we know that under Capitalism, it only functions as a mercenary protection force for the private property of the bourgeoisie and suppressor of the workers’ dissent.
P.S. Primarily looking for books and long form videos. Essays, articles, and discussions are also welcome.
This isn’t untrodden territory, so I’d look into the history of policing in actually/previously-existing socialisms.
Not sure if this book may help but Anna Louise Strong, through her book “The Soviet World”, explains how the bodies within the socialist state suppressed sabotage:
These policies—the normal reaction of a workers’ government wishing to rebuild the economic life of a ruined country with as little upheaval and disruption as possible, for the sake not of profit but of human welfare—united around the government the overwhelming majority of the population, including both workers and peasants. Opposition came from landlords, capitalists and the upper strata of engineers, civil servants and professional people; but if these used violence or sabotage against the new policy, they were suppressed by governing organizations composed of great masses of the common people.
Maybe, that book could offer something useful to you.
Great question, because this is something I’ve been interested in, some while. Thanks for asking!
From what I’ve seen most modern socialist theory focuses on police abolition. Is that something you are looking for?
That’s the abolition of Capitalist police. In a transitory socialist state, we would still need Police to prevent bourgeois and reactionary counter revolutions.
sure, but we have no way of knowing what will be the context / needs of a future revolution. as others have said, you could look into soviet history, maybe something like the Cheka (чрезвычайная комиссия - emergency commission) that was tasked with preventing a counter revolution (it went through like 5 or 6 iterations). there were also Worker Peasant Militias that came from the Red Guards.
