What does 'defund the police' mean and why some say reform is not enough?
Monday, 8 June 2020
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The push to defund the police is about more than just taking money away. It's also a push to reallocate those funds into social programs, and reinvesting them into black communities.
What does 'defund the police' mean and why some say reform is not enough?
Protesters and activists have been calling to "defund the police" in the wake of George Floyd's killing. Heres' what it means and why some want it.
"Defund the police."
In recent days, those words have spread on social media, been asked of politicians and been painted onto streets.
Protests around the country in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have reignited conversations around the role of police in society, and a growing voice among some activists has been calling to "defund the police."
In Minneapolis, a veto-proof majority of the city council committed to dismantling its police department, breaking with Mayor Jacob Frey’s desire to make reforms but not break up the embattled police force.
"It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe," council president Lisa Bender said. "Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period."
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti vowed to cut as much as $150 million that was part of a planned increase in the police department’s budget, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday that the city would move funding from the NYPD to youth initiatives and social services, while keeping the city safe.
Here's what's behind the movement to defund the police.
What does it mean to defund the police?
In one sense, the movement to defund the police is quite simple: It means taking funding away from police forces across the country. In many cases, a city's or county's legislators allocate money in yearly budgets to fund police departments. Defunding the police is just that literal.
But the larger push to defund the police is about more than just taking money away. It's also a push to reallocate those funds into social programs.
"It’s not just about taking away money from the police, it’s about reinvesting those dollars into black communities. Communities that have been deeply divested from, communities that, some have never felt the impact of having true resources. And so we have to reconsider what we’re resourcing. I've been saying we have an economy of punishment over an economy of care," Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, told WBUR.
