ACAB | 1312
what does it mean? why do i keep seeing it?
disclaimer
before we begin, a quick notice and disclaimer;
take note, everything in this carrd is from a general standpoint, it isnt representant of any particular place, but cops in general.
i am white, i understand my privilege and dont wish for my word to be held over people of colour, im merely here to educate people, please inform me if anything here is disrespectful, or if you find issue with anything in general. my twitter is linked near the bottom of this page.
trigger warning
the following pages will include reference to and information on a variety of potentially triggering topics, which include, r*pe, mentions of racism and homophobia, amongst other things.
<3
what does acab mean?
acab is an acronym for
all cops are bastards
and 1312 is the code (based on the number equivalent)
which obviosuly means just that, every cop is a bastard.
police brutality is a real thing. the system in which the police force is built upon is unjust and can not be enforced in a humane light.
bastard stems from the word bastardised. bastardised is put simply, a synonym for corrupt. acab does not mean every indivudual cop is a bad person, but rather, every individual cop is corrupt, working for such a system.
mini history of the term
despite its recent spike in usage, acab has been around for an extremely long time. it originated in the united kingdom, and was a term adopted by punks in the 1970s and 80s.
misconceptions of acab
what acab doesnt stand for
acab doesnt mean any cops deserve to die, whilst people in support of the acab movement may say this, it isnt apart of acab in itself and is merely an extended belief.
supporting acab doesn't mean we want to abolish a legal system, it just means that the current legal system isnt acceptable in todays world, and never should have been. it should be improved.
acab also doesnt mean that relation to a cop means youre a horrible person, such as an afformentioned point, belief in this is reliant on ones personal thoughts and isnt associated with acab alone.
how can all cops be bad? among other faq
differentiating bastard and bad, extended.
to speak on this we must first make something clear.
cop is an occupation, not a person.
we must differentiate these two because if we were to not, calling every person whom works as a cop morally horrible, awful people, would be untrue.
as long as a cop is on duty, they are a bastard.
they support the broken system, and that makes them a bastard. not a bad person.
what about cops who advocate for the same things as acab, such as an improvement on the legal system?
this question can be comparable to a different situation to make it more understandable;
imagine a person works an office job for a homophobic boss, the worker themselves are not homophobic but they work for them nonetheless, this in itself already shouldnt be respectable as the worker is helping a bad person, their boss.
if their boss decides that they want the worker to be homophobic, they can do that, they are the boss, this in itself doesnt make the worker a homophobic person but a homophobic worker in a sense. a bastard worker if you will.
if this worker decides to speak up on this issue, and stop being homophobic, whilst it would be a good deed, theyre refusing the rules of the place which theyre employed, in going against the homophobia in their workplace, theyre acting from their humane side beyond work, breaking assigned rules, and arent a worker in that moment.
you can not simultaneously go against the rules whilst following them. they may be a good person, but are bastardised by their occupation of choice and compliance in that area.
but isnt acab the same as saying all people of a certain colour are bad because of a select few?
no, people can not change their skin colour, police decide to be police, and as long as they do, theyre bastards.
never forget, cop is an occupation, not a person
my twitter if need be: