Police interactions are people's first engagement with the prison system. Police can be in any public setting. They're on the street. They're in hospitals, libraries, train stations. They're in our schools. They're in our workplaces. They enter our homes - sometimes when summoned, sometimes by force, with or without a warrant. As K's experience illustrates, police bring the threat, and often the reality, of harassment, surveillance, criminalization, arrest and even death. Patrolling protests - including protests against the police - is part of their job. Police ensure that, particularly for marginalized people, there's always a possible path from everyday life to prison.

— Prison by Any Other Name by Maya Schenwar, Victoria Law, Michelle Alexander (Page 144)