Problem
As the country continues to reel in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer and reckons with a history that is long past due in the eyes of many, a new rallying cry has taken center-stage: "Defund the Police". At issue is the fact that no one really knows what this means exactly, as if you were to ask 100 people, you would likely receive 100 different responses. For some it means what it says literally, a full abolition of police departments around the nation, but to be replaced with what exactly no one knows. In light of Mr. Floyd's death, the Minneapolis city council passed a veto proof measure promising to disband the police department completely after citing that it was cancerous and could not be reformed, but they also admitted that they don't know exactly what will replace it in the future. Other states and cities have responded by passing measures to defund percentages of police budgets and reallocate them elsewhere while still admitting that some degree a police presence as a protection force is needed. Obviously, there are many others who are extremely concerned about the prospect of defunding of police as they legitimately wonder who, or what, will reply to calls for help or service. One thing we know for sure is that crime and violence will still occur when police are nowhere to be found, as we have seen in the area of Seattle known as "CHOP" where there have been shootings, vandalism, burglary, and reports of extortion of business owners in exchange for protection by people claiming to be leaders of the movement there.
These individuals also pay taxes and as citizens are entitled to their protection, so how do we, or can we, balance out the wants/needs of everyone in our nation? Is it possible to provide a reformed police presence that is kinder, gentler, and more receptive to people of color? Has the trust been too eroded over the years? Is the issue truly systemic or is it "bad apples" who need to be rooted out? All jobs have "bad apples" or people not qualified for the position, and there are some professions which require a calling to do well as opposed to someone just taking the job for a paycheck and because there was an opening. Some would argue that policing is simply a profession where "bad apples" cannot be accepted due to the potentially deadly results. Perhaps the comedian Chris Rock expressed this concept as well as anyone possibly could when he said:
"I don't think they pay cops enough. I don't think they pay police enough. And you get what you pay for. Here's the thing, man. Whenever the cops gun down an innocent black man, they always say the same thing. "Well, it's not most cops. It's just a few bad apples. It's just a few bad apples." Bad apple? That's a lovely name for murderer. That almost sounds nice. I've had a bad apple. It was tart, but it didn't choke me out. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. I know being a cop is hard. I know that shit's dangerous. I know it is, okay? But some jobs can't have bad apples. Some jobs, everybody gotta be good. Like ... pilots. Ya know, American Airlines can't be like, "Most of our pilots like to land. We just got a few bad apples that like to crash into mountains. Bear with us."
So, what should defunding the police mean? Should it be an abolition of such services? If so, what replaces it to ensure public safety? Should defunding simply called for a reallocation of some money to other community programs intended to reduce the requirement of police to respond to calls which they have no business do so? For example, should an officer really be the one responding to a person having mental issues and trying to discern whether they are a threat to themselves or others? After all, is it fair to ask an officer to discern a person's mental state when it takes psychologists/psychiatrists years to earn the multiple degrees necessary to treat a person with such issues? As a secondary issue to the one at hand, if you argue there should not be such a replacement, then what about the 2nd Amendment? Recently people were asked about this issue and many argued that an AR-15 is not necessary, but it there's no police presence then should citizens have the right to own such weapons to protect themselves and their property? We saw during the riots where people's businesses where overwhelmed by looters to the degree where weapons holding less ammunition would not be enough to deter, so does this potentially alter your opinion?
Ferguson, Andrew. "'Defund the Police' Does Not Mean Defund the Police. Unless It Does. Am I supposed to take it literally?" The Atlantic. June 14, 2020.
Ray, Rashawn. "What does 'defund the police' mean and does it have merit?" Brookings Institute. June 19, 2020.