NYT : What Would Efforts to Defund or Disband Police Departments Really Mean?

[Celerity]

Much is not yet certain, but here’s what is known so far about some efforts to defund or abolish police departments.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/us/what-does-defund-police-mean.html



MINNEAPOLIS — Across the country, calls are mounting from some activists and elected officials to defund, downsize or abolish police departments. A veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council pledged on Sunday to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department, promising to create a new system of public safety in a city where law enforcement has long been accused of racism. The calls for change have left people uncertain of what those changes would really mean and how cities would contend with crime. Much remains uncertain and the proposals vary between cities, but here are answers to some questions about the issue.

What does defunding the police mean?

Calls to defund police departments are generally seeking spending cuts to police forces that have consumed ever larger shares of city budgets in many cities and towns. Minneapolis, for instance, is looking to cut $200 million from its $1.3 billion overall annual budget, said Lisa Bender, the City Council president. The police budget in 2020 was $189 million. She hopes to shift money to other areas of need in the city.

If the money doesn’t go to policing, where would it be spent?

Many activists want money now spent on overtime for the police or on buying expensive equipment for police departments to be shifted to programs related to mental health, housing and education — areas that the activists say with sufficient money could bring about systemic societal change and cut down on crime and violence.

What are calls for abolishing the police seeking?

Leaders in different cities have advocated various specific plans, but generally speaking, the calls aim to reimagine public safety tactics in ways that are different from traditional police forces. Activists say their intent is to ensure safety and justice but to wind up with a different system. Years of consent decrees and investigations into human rights violations by police departments have yielded little change, they say, so a more fundamental shift is needed.

What are some of the ideas for rethinking policing?.........

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