Now that protestors and thugs have gained a foot-hold in getting politicians to fold like a bad-tent, they’ve been embolden to push the envelope and ask/demand for more. What better solution than to defund local police departments.
What could possibly go wrong. Who wouldn’t be in favor of that. Think of the possibilities. Consider it an experiment, similar to using explosives and alcohol simultaneously on the 4th of July, or asking your drinking or bowling buddy to pack your parachute prior to sky-diving, or putting your home on-the-line at the roulette wheel in Vegas.
I think it would be an amazing idea with a few caveats. I would exclude de-funding the police department in my home town of Naperville. I would also exclude the towns my children and grand-children live in, and don’t defund police departments in all cities that have MLB teams, and maybe NFL and NBA teams (OK, let the soccer cities go). Also I would want to keep police departments in all cities and towns that I may travel to. (never end a sentence with a preposition).
Also defund all the police departments in the great State of Iowa, AKA ‘God’s country’. “Is this Heaven, no it’s Iowa”. Iowa is the only state where it only rains at nighttime, you can leave your car keys in your ignition at all times, never need to lock the doors to your home, where all the men are strong, all the women are beautiful, and all the kids are well above average. Well, on second thought, keep funding those police departments because that’s probably why Iowa is Iowa; great security and police presence.
Numerous cities and municipalities are considering defunding their police departments. Residents may not be too excited about the idea, but local politicians, city councils, looters and thugs are getting on-board with the idea. I say they should give it a try and see what happens with the caveat that they not be allowed to escape to cities with police departments. Let’s see how that works.
There is an old adage,” Use it or lose it”!
Based on its performance during the Monday night carnage our gutless city council especially the Mayor and Police Chief have a hard time justifying it in its present form if they wont use it!
While we are at it, why don’t they also use all legal means at our disposal (how many lawyers and PR people do we have) to reopen our city from the stupid and draconian edits of the state and county? This also is true for the Forest District.
This nonsense about liability is just that. People that want to use facilities are more than willing to sign a liability waiver form!
The “Defund Police” is a slogan like “Lock Her Up”. No one actually plans to do these things, they just make for good press and chants.
The only people talking about eliminating all police are the individuals interested in maintaining the status quo. Of resisting any change in how communities handle issues of public safety.
For example taking police officers out of schools and take the funding for this program away from the police department. Spend these funds on more social workers that can help students with their personal and home life issues. Use early intervention to prevent future criminal behavior.
The case most frequently mentioned as a model for this approach is Camden, NJ. The city eliminated its own police force and replaced them with contracted County law enforcement. The money saved was then spent on social programs for job training and placement as well as more social workers to provide assistance with home life issues. The result has been dramatic.
The reality is that recent events are going to bring about some radical changes to how law enforcement is managed and operates. Those that resist will only be delaying the inevitable and in the long run only hurting themselves and their community.
Jim, I have to applaud you for consistency, in that each paragraph of your comment is flawed. That’s no easy task. Let’s take a look at each paragraph. First, “The Defund Police” is a slogan like “Lock her up”, no one actually plans to do these things”. How do you know that ‘no one plans to do these things’? Who would have guessed that everything that has happened recently would have happened? Second, “the only people talking about eliminating all police are the individuals interested in maintaining status quo”. Jim that makes absolutely no sense; eliminating police is not status quo. Third flaw, replacing police officers in school with social workers, is a horrible idea. Take a survey of teachers and see how well that idea is received. Fourth, Camden, New Jersey replaced one police force with another. Same policing, just different uniforms. Final paragraph, change for the sake of change only, is an exercise in futility.
First no one plans to defund police because as you yourself pointed out even in Camden they still fund a police force, just not the city’s own.
Second, it is true that the only people making the elimination of police do support the status quo. They are using this misleading idea to scare people into not listening to what people talking about “Defunding Police” are really saying.
Third I never stated an opinion either for or against replacing officer in schools with social workers. It was an example of what people talking about “Defunding” are actually discussing and not the elimination of police all together.
And four, will I am not sure what that was about other then paraphrasing something I had already said. Something I said to demonstrate that “Defunding police” is not about eliminating police, just change how cities manage public safety.
Finally this is not change for changes sake. Police brutality and excessive use of force is real. Just because we do not experience this in Naperville does not me things should remain unchanged. Naperville has a Swat Team, something originally started in big cities to deal with daily problems caused by organized criminals and gangs but Naperville does not have these daily issues. So using this logic Naperville should not have a Swat team.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/06/daisy-luther/an-eye-witnesss-shocking-account-of-whats-really-happening-during-the-seattle-riots/