DEvery week on Facebook I see some far flung friend deriding the idea to defund the police.
Who will solve crimes? They cry.
Blue lives matter! They chant.
I will not live in a lawless country! They claim.
Who will solve crimes? Podcasters, journalists and Dateline.
The lives of cops do matter but being a cop is a choice and you can take that uniform off at any time. Compare that to the skin you’re born into that cannot be taken off to remove you from danger.
And yeah, you actually do live in a lawless country when our police officers are not held to account for murder it citizens.
But I want to address your commitment to ignorance and misunderstanding the phrase “defund the police.” I know you haven’t been in school since 8 tracks were new but critical reading is a skill that should improve with wrinkles, not degrade like your hearing.
Let me tell you a quick story about a little boy I knew in AWANA when I was young. He was adorable and I’ll always remember his Halloween costume of a little tramp, complete with chocolate dirt on his cheeks. Our families attended different churches over the years but we went to high school together just a few grades apart but didn’t keep in touch after graduation. As an adult he experienced some mental health challenges which culminated in hiding out in a garden shed. Possibly due to the influence of drugs or lack or medication, he lunged at the police with a pair of garden shears when they came to investigate. He injured a police dog in the process and was shot dead by police. His family feels that loss every day and I think of the little boy and wonder “what if?”
Defund the police doesn’t mean that man I knew would be left alone in a shed, suffering and struggling. Defund the police means bringing in mental health professionals who are trained and capable of handing such challenges.
Defund the police means not every problem has a solution that requires bullets. De-escalation is a valuable skill in conflict resolution.
Defund the police doesn’t mean we don’t have police. It means we should stop funding them as if they were military forces, armed to the hilt with guns and tanks and redistribute that money to other social projects and services that reduce crime at the source and resolve problems with other professionals.
Police officers shouldn’t be relationship counselors and dog catchers and chasing truant kids and doing welfare checks.
Defund the police is shorthand for divest funds from police departments and reallocating them to non-policingforms of public safety and community support, such as social services, youth services, housing, education, healthcare and other community resources.
“But why don’t you SAY that?”
Because, returning to my original point, if you can’t be bothered to google a slogan and understand what people are asking, I know you won’t listen to the explanation without wondering when Jeopardy comes on halfway through a 60-second explanation.
“But we need the police”
Really? Your insistence on ignoring the issue that tells me that you live in an America where the police come to your aid. They’ll answer the call when your car gets vandalized or your neighbors are playing loud music all night. You trust that when a cop pulls you over it might mean a speeding ticket and a bad day, but nothing worse.
When you have only ever experienced “good cops” you don’t understand why people fear the bad ones.
And, to be fair, I’m in that white bubble too. I’ve talked my way out of 3/4 traffic stops in 20 years of driving and have never had a bad encounter.
However, I also have empathy. I listen to those who have been targeted by police, harassed and abused. I’ve watched the videos of cops killing unarmed black children, men and women which occur far too frequently. I see the unions and officers talk about being “warriors” in our communities instead of protecting and serving the people.
Something has to change.
Police across this nation have been given billions of dollars which does nothing to stem the tide of crime and allows abuses to continue.
Something has to change.
We need a change in recruitment and training, de-escalation tactics, a plethora of support available in communities, accountability for cops who break the law, justice for those killed by officers, and yes, scaled back budgets that focus on the needs of the public, not Deputy Dave’s desire to cosplay Call of Duty at work.
I do not support giving ever more money to agencies who are not held accountable and fail to protect us.
So the next time you whine about defunding the police don’t be surprised if I drop a link to this essay on your post.