I’ve heard some say that the slogan, “Defund the Police” doesn’t mean abolishing the police department, but reforming it. But when Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told protestors that he doesn’t support the full abolition of the Police Department, he was ordered to leave the gathering, as protesters chanted, “Go home Jacob, go home!”
I wholeheartedly support restructuring police departments, reducing spending on armed officers, and funding areas of specialization for emergency responders. However, anybody who has ever felt that they or somebody else might be in immediate danger wants to be able to call 911 and have well-trained, but armed, police officers respond.
Also, I can imagine non-violent scenarios where well-trained officers are needed so that persons of interest or concern will comply with simple orders, such as “let me see your identification” or “get in the car”, even if the goal is to conduct an investigation, issue a summons, or drive someone to a facility where help can be provided. Unfortunately, I can’t imagine a world in which all persons committing crimes or needing help, violent or otherwise, voluntarily comply with orders from unarmed social workers.
Please don’t misunderstand. I fully support the Black Lives Matter movement, the protests that are going on right now, the elimination of all pro-Confederate monuments (including the carving on Stone Mountain in Georgia) and police reform. The long list of names of people who died unjustifiably at the hands of poorly-selected and/or poorly-trained officers is heartbreaking. Tamir Rice will always eat at me the most.
However, I still believe that we need armed officers, albeit a lot fewer. Demilitarize, improve the selection process, improve training, improve oversite, provide specialized emergency responders, reform, reform, reform. But defunding doesn’t make sense.