"Defunding the police" is a terrible idea that won't serve anyone well - not communities, not police, not anybody. Here are just a few reasons why. washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost…
First, "defunding" would put police and communities in competition with another for funding, precisely at the time when they need to be working together more closely. It's a wedge policy at the worst possible moment.
In LA, police and street outreach leaders used to lobby for each other at city council budget hearings. Will that continue after Garcetti's decision to slash police budgets? latimes.com/california/sto…
Second, "defunding" won't reform police. It's hard to accept, but real institutional reform takes money. For police to change, it will likely take more money, not less - I don't know of a single agency that has turned around without additional resources.
Third and related, cutting police budgets is likely to have a whole host of unintended consequences, many of them negative. Listen to @w_katz1, an expert in this area (read the whole thread, it's great):
Do we need to put more resources in the hands of poor communities of color? Absolutely. But not like this. Find the money elsewhere or raise taxes if you have to.
I'll write some tweets on constructive policy changes later, but for now, please don't pile on this very bad idea.
