Defund The Police: An Explanation
"What do you mean, “Defund the police”? Who is going to protect Americans?"
Defunding the police does not mean eliminating all law enforcement in America; instead, we need to have a system that is going to regulate and diffuse local violence. On a national scale, to defund the police means to slowly take a portion of allocated funds at the state level and use the funds elsewhere, like the community.
Simply stated, defunding the police means relocating funds allocated for the police back into the community—more specifically, poor communities of color.
By “defunding” the police and funding community-based programs like housing, education, healthcare, and infrastructure, the government will be taking preventive measures against crime v.s. reactionary measures. Since, after all, research shows that crime is a response to social conditions.
It’s important to note that disbanding the police and defunding the police are two different things. Disbanding the police is a radical theory, where the police would be dismantled, or be done away with altogether.
Defunding public education has been happening in Congress for years. Defunding public schools means that novice teachers can be placed into low-income schools, and they are underpaid. The textbooks are older, so they are teaching a dated curriculum. With that frustration, teachers don't have the time to make meaningful connections with Black children. The lack of time and understanding results in teachers tending to over discipline. Overtly, helping the school-to-prison pipeline. So, by defunding the police and allocating funds towards education, we would be decreasing the school-to-prison pipeline and providing African American communities with the tools to receive a quality education.
Moreover, defunding the police will not only allow the allocated funds to be used for good, but it will let Americans be safer, and less policed in minority communities.
If you would like to learn more about defunding the police, this short guide by Nadiya Farrington is an amazing resource.
WRITTEN BY:
Angel Polkey
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