Perspectives: Defunding the Police
Summary from the AllSides News Team
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From the Center
'Defund the police': What does that mean exactly?Protesters are pushing to “defund the police" over the death of George Floyd and other black Americans killed by law enforcement. Their chant has become rallying cry – and a stick for President Donald Trump to use on Democrats as he portrays them as soft on crime.
But what does “defund the police” mean? It’s not necessarily about gutting police department budgets.
From the Left
Defund the PoliceWhat are the police for? Why are we paying for this?
The death of George Floyd and the egregious, unprovoked acts of police violence at the peaceful protests following his death have raised these urgent questions. Police forces across America need root-to-stem changes—to their internal cultures, training and hiring practices, insurance, and governing regulations. Now a longtime demand from social-justice campaigners has become a rallying cry: Defund the police. This is in one sense a last-resort policy: If cops cannot stop killing people, and black people in particular, society needs...
From the Right
Defund Police, Watch Crime ReturnOne feature of our current politics is how quickly bad events trigger a rush to bad policies. So it is that the response to the killing of George Floyd has sprinted past police reform to “defund the police.” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti wants to redirect $150 million from public safety to social programs, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was hooted from a protest on the weekend because he admitted he didn’t want to defund the police. City Council members now pledge to dismantle the force whether he wants to...
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