Revisiting The Defund Police Movement

We’re about a year into the Defund Police Movement, so I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the progress being made in areas that pledged to eliminate their police departments. One would expect by now the new “community-led public safety” programs set to replace the police would have a well-established track record of success.

In reality, it’s been an unmitigated disaster. Just about every category of crime, especially violent crime and murder, has been skyrocketing in these Defund Police cities. But guess what, victimized business owners and residents are finally being heard and things are slowly starting to change…

Let’s not forget how this started, blaming every police officer and the entire system for the actions of a few. The kneejerk reaction was to declare the entire system of law enforcement systemically racist, tie it to the old South slave patrols and “white supremacy”, and dismantle it all.

Millions of dollars were cut from police budgets around the country, axing specialized units dedicated to street crime, gangs, sexual assault, patrol, overtime and training. Woke politician-with-badges chiefs sold out their officers by stripping them of the tools and techniques they needed to be effective and stay safe on the job.

The new system to replace it was to be based on the wonderfully woke principles of trauma-informed, gender-affirming, anti-racist praxis. A “community-led public safety” program where “an unarmed urgent responder trained in behavioral and mental health comes within 5 minutes” or in response to incidents of rising gun violence, “a trauma informed crisis intervention team works with community activists to disarm and deescalate conflicts”.

Ultra-woke cities hired “experts” to help them with police reform. Seattle hired a felon, ex-pimp (convicted of running a prostitution ring which included underage girls) as a $150,000 per year “Street Czar” to provide the city with “expertise and support services in de-escalation, community engagement, and alternatives to policing.” Ithaca and Tompkins County hired a released cop-killer for their “Reimagining Public Safety Collaborative’’ as part of New York’s mandatory police reform program.

The results were about what you would expect. Skyrocketing violence and crime. Crime that used to be committed at night or away from public eyes is now rampant in the streets in broad daylight. Criminals, gang bangers, terrorists and thugs who have no fear of the law or law enforcement have taken over the streets. Autonomous zones where police are not allowed have sprung up in some Defund cities. Theft, extortion, looting, arson, assaults, rapes and murder have all occurred within their heavily armed hard borders to the outside world.

Prosecutors have played their part as well. Aside from refusing to file charges, dropping charges or decriminalizing crimes they believe are part of the corrupt system, they have facilitated the wholescale release of criminals from jails and prisons to protect them from COVID. Sadly, no protection was offered the law-abiding citizens from those summarily released.

Now look around and see what is happening.

Atlanta is hiring 250 police officers after homicides increase 58%. One suburb of Atlanta had already contracted with a security company, staffed by off-duty Atlanta police, Fulton County Deputies and Georgia State Police, for protection. They are also looking to separate from Atlanta so they can form their own police department.

Minneapolis recently approved $6.4 million in additional funding to the Minneapolis Police Department following a “dramatic uptick in violent crime”.

Los Angeles is adding $36 million in funding to the Los Angeles Police Department, Long Beach Police Department and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Departments following a surge in violent crime including a “more than eight-fold rise in shootings, from 59 in the first two weeks of 2021 compared with just 7 at the same time last year.”

Portland is working to add $2 million in police funding to combat surging “gun violence” and homicides. “More people died of gunfire last year in Portland — 40 — than the entire tally of homicides the previous year. The number of shootings — 900 — was nearly 2 1/2 times higher than the year before.”

The progressive district attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles are both facing recall efforts for their failure to uphold the law and hold criminals accountable.

Yet the ultra-left politicians still believe they need to do more to restrict and reform police. Colorado and New York City have eliminated police officer’s qualified immunity. The very same legal protection they themselves enjoy and protect them from lawsuits from residents who have lost their homes and businesses, been victims of violent crime or lost family members to the rampant violence directly caused by the politicians’ decisions to defund and eliminate police.

2020 & 2021 to date has seen record firearms and ammunition sales in this country. The purchasers have been across all races, genders, incomes, origins and political parties, with at least 40% being made by first time buyers. Are people buying firearms in record numbers because they are concerned with a supposedly “systemically racist” justice system? NO! They’re buying firearms for the safety of themselves and their families because they know the government is no longer able to answer their calls for help.

It’s time to stop living in this fantasy dreamland and recognize that evil will always exist and if you don’t have the police, that progressive model of a community love is going to be a war zone. It is WAY past time to stop experimenting with people’s lives and re-fund the police.

P.S. If you’re wondering where violent crime hasn’t been skyrocketing, take a look at the cities who have not gone the woke/defund route. Go figure.

Bob

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