zlacker

I'm heartened by city council members Tammy Morales in Seattle, Nury Martinez in LA, and Steve Fletcher in Minneapolis who are all seriously discussing significantly defunding or disbanding their police departments. While we've had protests like this in the past, I don't think I've ever seen so many places seriously asking how much we need our police, and how equipped they should be.

Clearly, the answer is that police departments are filling roles they do not need to fill, and have expensive, military style equipment they do not need to have. I hope we see more cities bringing these ideas to the table.

>>Pfhrea+(OP)
Is there any proof that police having a Humvee makes them more violent or is that an emotional reaction?

>>Pfhrea+(OP)
Since there will always be sociopaths, we will always need at least some police. Seriously considering disbanding the police, if it means more than renaming and adjusting their responsibilities, is madness.

>>missed+K
>Is there any proof that police having a Humvee makes them more violent or is that an emotional reaction?

The former [1].

>1033 receipts are associated with both an increase in the number of observed police killings in a given year as well as the change in the number of police killings from year to year, controlling for a battery of possible confounding variables including county wealth, racial makeup, civilian drug use, and violent crime.

[1] https://www.cato.org/blog/militarization-makes-police-more-v...

>>Pfhrea+(OP)
" who are all seriously discussing significantly defunding or disbanding their police departments."

It's ridiculous for the mayor to be doing this. Where there is crime, policing is needed. Cities that have tried to cut back in the past (the impetus usually being budget) usually end up with problems, and it usually doesn't work out.

The number of 911 calls is rising rapidly.

Surely, there's an opportunity to 'not buy big surplus toys from the Army' but I suggest that this is not a hugely meaningful budget line item.

The problem in America is absolutely not 'over-policing', it's that police are asked to play more roles many of which they might not be suited to, and of course, some police are far too aggressive, which is also driven by the great prevalence of guns in the population.

>>ciaran+91
Yes but were not asking the most important question... Is there less crime? If police departments that didnt receive these weapons are too afraid to enforce laws then perhaps they should be getting some.

>>Pfhrea+(OP)
I'm all in favor of disarming the police. If they need a gun, they can call it in. However, a city like LA would be nuts without cops, if anything there should be more. The situation on the street is not safe without some authority patrolling and making sure people don't get rowdy and heated; there are just too many people out of their mind on meth. I've seen someone get pushed and yelled at on the expo line for making eye contact with another dude who was tweaking on something, the confrontation ended when the victim pulled a knife on the guy and backed up to the other side of the train car.

>>asdff+ed1
Practically, the things that people are advocating for with defunding are things like stopping paid administrative leave for cops under investigation, cutting pensions and rehire rates for cops who use excessive force, require cops to be liable for a portion of their misconduct claims, do not pay for military exercises, withdraw from police military equipment programs, etc.

The disband crowd still wants people patrolling and available to deal with emergencies, but generally wants them to be specialized, unarmed, and focused on peace rather than violence. Ensure we have mental health specialists on call, dedicated people focused on addressing the homeless community, etc. Yes, we'll need a few folks who are trained to use force, but that shouldn't be the normal mode of police.