06-09-2020, 05:43 AM
(06-09-2020, 04:34 AM)samhain Wrote: I'm surprised nobody's mentioned it, but what are people's thought on the whole "defund the police" issue?
Apparently Minneapolis city council has a veto-proof majority to get it done.
IMO this is dangerous territory both politically and from a law enforcement perspective. I'm not completely sure how it would shake out, but it seems that state and county officials would step into roles once filled by city cops. I've also heard some say that communities would police themselves, which I think is even more risky. Are we talking about vigilanteism here? Does it leave a niche to be filled by organized crime and extortion/protection rackets?
We just saw two clowns go cowboy in Georgia over somebody getting a drink of water at a construction site. I'm not quite ready to think that people at large are going to make rational and safe decisions when it comes to protecting life and property.
From my understanding these types of movements are mostly about diverting funds from policing to social programs, and rebuilding a new PD (especially if attempts to reform that PD have received significant institutional pushback). Popular ways to do this could be to divert money that would go to purchasing military equipment for the PD, and instead use it for substance abuse programs or women's shelters and things like that. Its less about taking LEOs out of circulation and more about decreasing the role they play in civil matters.
