16 thoughts on “ARE WE MAKING A MISTAKE WITH “DEFUND THE POLICE”?”

1. Winston Churchill is quoted as saying “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” I say that to say that we now know over 25 years later that the 94-crime bill was a huge mistake based on lies and misinformation. Crime has up ticked but it’s not this huge surge that many trying to push an agenda would have you believe and there is in fact study after study that continues to come out to prove this but hardly anyone is talking about it because if it bleeds it leads. We are far safer today than we were in the 80’s, 90’s.

   We may all be tired of Covid-19 and suffering from covid fatigue but covid has had an enormous impact on us beyond just the illness itself. Many programs like “cease fire” that have been shown highly effective against inner city violence wasn’t allowed to engage in its normal outreach due to social distancing covid restrictions. The height of the gun violence so far according to one published study happens to coincide with the height of unemployment.

   Eric Adams is probably going to be a disaster for New York because he was simply chosen to put a black face on some harsh policies that are going to be aimed exclusively at the black community and he will initially immunize the city from cries of racism.

   If you want to be real about the crime you have to get real about the economic situations that those communities that are most affected by violence face, deal with that and you deal with the crime, but no one wants to have that complex conversation. To answer your question, defund the police is the way to go so that you can redirect resources to the communities that need them.

2. Crime was high even before ‘defund the police’ became a thing so it’s not like the police were making a difference anyway.

   1. Thank you. Just a reminder about crime during the Trump years (crime had been on a general 25 year decline, dating back to the 1990s), from the nonpartisan FactCheck.org:

      –Handgun production rose 12.5% in 2021 compared with 2016, setting a new record, AND
      –In 2020, the murder rate last year rose to the highest level since 1997.

      When Trump left office in January 2021, the US had lost 2.9 million net jobs, the unemployment rate rose to 6.3%, economic growth fell 3.4%, the murder rate rose 1.1 points, apprehensions at the US-Mexico border rose 14.7%, the consumer price index was already up 7.6%, and the US had lost a net of 154,000 manufacturing jobs.

      The crime we’re seeing just didn’t appear out of nowhere, for no reason. The country was left in a terrible state by the last president. Same as happened under the last Republican, only this time, with a pandemic to top it off.

3. I loveeeeee all this crime. You all talked so bad about police and protested about letting people out of jail. Now bare witness to what you all asked for. Bon Apetit.

4. Wherever social and economic inequality are high, crime rates tend to rise. Wherever social and economic inequality are low, especially in high income or middle class communities or rural poor communities, crime rates tend to be lower. This is not a foolproof formula but it frequently bears out.

   In 2020, US society spun out of control. We had economic chaos (20 million jobs lost), a pandemic that raged out of control, political chaos in the White House, racist and White supremacist attacks surging, one of the largest sustained social protests against racism and police violence since the 1970s, and so on. The psycho ex-president is out of office but the effects are still with us.

   Most people calling for defunding the cops don’t want them fully funded or abolished (though some do). They want more funding for social services, like mental health advocates and psychologists, social workers (with some real power), violence reduction and harm mitigation specialists, real help for the homeless, etc. Just think about how much less crime would be happening in NYC if so many mentally ill, homeless people weren’t left to fend for themselves but had real help. That is only one major problem facing some US cities. Another is the flood of guns on the street.

   The US economy has, on paper, not only come back, but done so dramatically. However, it is still not benefitting everyone, and inflation, which is caused by high demand and low supply as well as other factors (higher labor costs in 2021, more monopolies, loose monetary poilcy, etc.), is eating into the higher wages that many people have gotten. Many people are still not in the labor force, though the unemployment rate has fallen too. Address the root problems of violence in the US and you will lower the crime rate and also have less need for police, who really do need better training and need to devolve some of their duties to people better equipped to deal with issues like mental health and homelessness.

5. Defund the police is an awful name because it doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s more like realocate funds. Really looking at the money and where it is going. In my city, they approved to have licensed psychologist to ride along with the cops. It appears to be going well. Cops, like many community service workers, are expected to handle a vast variety of things that they may not be be trained or appropriate to handle. (Dealing mental health crisis comes to mind). Realocating funds is a way to make sure everyones needs are being met.
   Ps coming when 911 is called is literally their job. If police don’t want to arrive when they are called then they shouldn’t be police.

6. lets not forget the DA is letting criminals off with misdemeanor only to reoffend again making crime more worst. J, I saw a video of a guy going on a shopping spree taking many item from a RiteAid in NewYork and security let him exit like red carpet VIP. Worst ppl getting robbed left and right in Sanfran and The DA doing nothing!!!
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHDzPs3VqKo

7. Hey. To clarify, it’s not taking away police operating budgets but rather the surplus funds police departments get to buy unnecessary military grade equipment and transfer those funds back into the community. By the way, my two oldest sons are police officers….

   I live in a small township in south jersey. This township is very affluent with the medium home value between $500k to over $1M. We have around 7,000 residences and a police force of 76. We have no crime here, no murders, very little drug activity. Just the occasional traffic accident or speeding down small rural roads. Our police force has their own SWAT team with full military grade tactical gear and two riot tanks….. WHY?????

   This area is the bastion of conservatism in south jersey with old white people who are convinced that “those other people” are coming after them, so they keep approving these budget increases. In the meantime my property taxes are $17k a year and the local regional high school has to do a fund raiser to fix the roof. Police budget for 2022 is $17.8M. Something is seriously wrong with this picture….

   Bottom line here is that we can give police department millions but can’t fund schools, after school program, job training. When I was growing up in the 70’s we had a pipeline… School to vocational training and/or school and/or military. From there you went to work at one of the manufacturing companies in the city. We had PAL, CYO, Girls and Boys Club, YMCA, community youth programs. All of that is practically non existent today. But police have a battle tank and everyone in their grandmother is packing heat…..

8. Theyve sensationalized it during Trump presidency but defund the police means properly moving funding away from the police department to other government agencies funded by the local municipality. It would create accountability and fiscal responsibility; fights for perspective based on demands to our money, and possibly will reduce police violence and crime. 9 out of 10 9/11 calls aren’t for violence and then when the police show it usually ends up in violence ironically. It just means having the appropriate parties handle the appropriate types of events. This actually will help the police because they wouldn’t be overwhelmed. Lastly they should make officers take courses on how to de-escalate situations with mentally ill folks because they’ve killed quite a few people who have a record of mental illness, especially here in Philly.

   1. ^with your explanation,
      that sounds like a better plan but is removing funding from the police gonna really help?

      why has violence escalated all over the country?

      are the police rebelling against this OR is it because of the rona and the vaccine mandates?

      1. Wait,Jamari.I am from Nola born and raised.I spent 6 years in the ATL after Katrina. Some days I feel like I am living in Chicago. Who`s murder rate is higher NOLA,Chicago or the ATL?Jamari, is your city safer than mine? Can you sleep good at night?

         1. ^ ny is getting up there.
            i feel like the entire country has gone to shits…

            1. We have to be our security and police.

      2. Poverty is a strong underlying variable in the crime rate. Currently, prices on all goods have increased with no governmental guidance on when the inflation will stop. One thing that’s not increasing though? Wages paid for labor. People are tired. They see a future that is bleak, maybe even dreadful, due to the social, economic, and environmental chaos we all have a front row see to with our handy smartphones. Unfortunately, they don’t have a life they believe is valuable so there’s no expectation for them to see the value in yours.

         Every town in the United States with a population of over 50,000 has a police unit that essentially receives unregulated government funding. Why are some of them driving Teslas? Why do they receive the newest technology and a plethora of schools don’t have books? And most importantly, for what? They likely don’t prevent crimes and instead half-assed respond to them after they’ve been committed. By defunding the police, those funds can be redistributed to community programs, schools, healthcare, etc. to remind people that they matter. But…this is the United States so that will never happen. In fact, things will only probably get worse and we will all experience it to some degree.

   2. Still sounds stupid no matter how you spin it. Money doesn’t fix any of those problems listed in the short term. So while you’re funding social workers and mental workers you have fewer cops to keep the peace.

      The police aren’t the issue, black culture is the issue. As a people we kill and victimize each other with alarming frequency.

      1. Police rarely stop crimes from being committed? People are committing them more now than ever so exactly what “peace” are they keeping? Crime is directly related to poverty and as a race, Black people have historically and presently been given few avenues (college, music, and…sports?) to climb the socioeconomic ladder. College, of course, isn’t feasible for everyone. Please read up and not condemn our people based on the results of systemic racism. Please.

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