Thread by @wesyang

So interesting that a major scholar must describe "one of the most robust findings" in criminology -- that "more police officers in the street leads to less violent crime" -- as one of its "most uncomfortable findings."

Seems pretty intuitive. washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/0…

I mean, it *is* uncomfortable to have fifty DSA members in your mentions yelling at you that police don't prevent crime but in most other settings the idea that this "uncomfortable finding" could possibly not be true hasn't even occurred to most people.

You see the way he's trying to "pace and lead" an audience of presumed "defund" enthusiasts back to reality here...not sure if the WaPo really consists of such enthusiasts...make it does?

I'm not going to dismiss these visions out of hand. Let's give them a try in some neighborhoods that want to give them a go. We did do a lot of stuff similar to this during the War on Poverty, hopefully those lessons will be remembered?

It's a big proposal to scale up alternatives to policing, but also says "Do not fire any cops or touch the police budget..." You really see him trying to be constructive here....