Welcome back to another blog post! Today’s big topic is Part 3 of policing, discussing what “defunding the police” really means. Perhaps you are wondering why people are calling to defund the police? Or maybe you are unsure of what the U.S. might look like without a police force? In this mini info-series, we discussed a more in-depth look at the history of policing in the United States, integrating the police force, and what it really means when we call to “defund the police”.
There have been a number of misconceptions when it comes to defunding the police and what it really means. There tends to be a lot of fear when people say “defund the police” because it’s often associated with abolishing the entire police force, and therefore law and order will no longer apply to our society. What defunding really means is “reallocating.” Over the last 40 years, the police budget has continued to grow, despite a decrease in crime. The $115 billion dollars the U.S. spends on the police annually, is more than most countries spend on their military. We can drastically reduce the amount of funding directed towards the police, and still have a law enforcement system capable of handling crime, with other systems in place to do what the police cannot.
It is time to address the underlying factors that contribute to crime (such as poverty, mental illness, and homelessness). We recognize that being an officer is not an easy job. But, trained social workers, specialized response teams, firefighters, and medical professionals respond to violent cases involving domestic violence, mental illness, drug abuse, homelessness, etc. without excessive use of force. Expanding off of these services is what we envision for our future.
In 2015, it was found that 1 in 4 people killed by the police suffered from serious mental illness at that time. Approximately 1,000 people are fatally shot by the police each year, with Black people being killed at twice the rate of White people. These numbers speak volumes to the issues behind policing in America and how it inarguably hurts BIPOC. Many feel that police violence will not happen to them, therefore it is not something that they worry about. Many people have family and friends in law enforcement and find it hard to understand the issues with policing. It’s important to be on the right side of history when it comes to being actively involved in law enforcement. Decision making is hard to do on the spot, but with proper training and proper response teams, that issue should be resolved over time. The REAL issue here is that racial biases and prejudices run rampant when we do not fund other integral areas of life. It not only benefits BIPOC but also the White community to better understand their role in how they fit into fixing the issue.
Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement stated that “[Defunding law enforcement] means that we are reducing the ability for law enforcement to have resources that harm our communities...It's about reinvesting those dollars into black communities, communities that have been deeply divested from." The funding needs to go to schools, hospitals, community centers, youth organizations, housing, and food in divested communities. Reallocation of these resources will increase safety in a different way.
Defunding the police is also about prevention. Alex Vitale, the author of The End of Policing, stated in an NPR interview that “conversations tend to center around things like reducing our reliance on policing in schools, getting police out of the mental health business, quit using police to manage homelessness and start actually trying to put people in housing. The goal here is to both reduce the number of crises before they happen and also to create an infrastructure that allows clinicians to respond to these crises rather than armed police.” By creating a long-lasting infrastructure, the number of crises would reduce overtime. But, to create these infrastructures, there needs to be funding and money allocated to making these a reality.
The following are a few examples of the steps being taken by individual cities. We must ask ourselves: are they merely making practical spending cuts and feigning support, or will actual, fundamental change occur? There is a proposed cut to NYPD’s $6 billion annual budget by $1 billion to instead fund “youth initiatives and social services,” saying, “investments in our youth are foundational.” Los Angeles Mayor cut the city’s $1.8 billion police budget by as much as $150 million. He is focusing on funding $250 million for youth jobs, health initiatives, and “peace centers.” The city council in Minneapolis, where George Floyd was murdered in May, has voted to dismantle and replace the city’s police department.
Some things you can do to make defunding the police a reality:
Sign Petitions: Show your support for this option by signing and sharing petitions to defund the police. There is so much power when groups of people come together. (We have an entire blog dedicated to petitions, bail funds, and donations!)
Share what you’ve learned: There is still so much more to know, so we highly recommend you look at our blog and do a more independent study on this topic. Then share what you’ve learned with your family and friends, as this will not be possible without massive public support. (We have a blog dedicated to teaching you how to start these uncomfortable discussions, and how to navigate it.)
Vote: Learn who actually gets to decide if the police in your city get defunded. It’s not the president. It’s your local officials, your mayors and city council members. Do your research and VOTE! Local elections are just as important as the presidential election because you can see the direct change in your community from them.
Our society needs to rehabilitate and refocus its law enforcement and how it handles crime. Understanding the power of reallocating and uplifting other community services would create a more sustainable future for our society and an improvement in how we treat one another.
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