Defunding the police is a bad idea

Cities are now questioning their current police departments and what steps to take to reduce police violence. Maybe the first thing they need to do is have the community actually respect law and order, rather than adopt the "me,me,me" attitude that the entire world is wrong and they are right. Maybe we need to start making crime not pay, and to actually punish those who break the law rather than reward them with a no bail, cut-em-loose policy. Catch and release works for some fish, allowing them to get bigger and breed. It is not an acceptable manner to deal with criminal behavior.

Defunding means moving dollars away from police departments and in many cases, giving it to social programs alleged to help a marginalized or lower socioeconomic community. This is a really bad idea as time and again we have learned that throwing money into inner city problems does nothing to stem the crime and violence. Several cities including San Francisco are floating the idea that police should not respond to "non-criminal" complaints or scenarios and that will be handled by social service type arbitrators. Imagine a domestic issue that escalates and the arbitrator is going to do what? Talk more? Or now call the police when it spirals out of control? I think we will see many injured civilians in cities that decide to do this. Many situations police face on a daily basis start out as pleasant interfaces and end up being much more. Of course, those suggesting foolish moves have never been a street cop nor had any experience in actual law enforcement activities. Like those non-players who Monday morning quarterback, and condemn the way a football was tossed on Sunday, it's easy to condemn the police for making split second decisions. 

 

My opinion is it's time to not defund the police but to restructure the department from top to bottom. How a department operates should NOT be on political whims nor on reactivity to events, rather by a hierarchy of command that starts with high quality leadership. Too often the command staff is filled with those the current politicians see as supportive and leaning to their cause, rather than to the standards and qualities that make a law enforcement agency a positive factor in city government. Chicago is a prime example where the Mayor throws the police command staff under the bus, and then has yet another head who she then vilifies as a prime reason crime is out of control, while she is pulling the strings to preclude effective policing.

Community policing has failed. The "old days" when everyone knew the cop on the beat is long gone. Now we have officers riding in cars and unable to meet and greet the citizens they protect. What happened to door checks on every business on a beat, where the officer had the phone number to call in the event he found a door unlocked? In my opinion, when that was stopped, it denigrated the value of community policing. Nobody knows the beat cop anymore and the community spirit of mutual respect has died.

Sad to see how times have changed and yes, I'm an old dinosaur, who remembers it as it was...respectful policing and community care.