Who came up with the phrase "defund the police"?

[raccoon]

My understanding is that this means to allocate less money to the police and allocate some to social workers or others who may be better able to help in a given situation. It doesn’t mean to totally cut out the police department.

Y’all please correct me if I’m wrong.

But if I’m not wrong about that, I think that phrase is a misleading one.

I heard some woman on a political ad on the radio today yammering about if Harrison gets elected as US Senator, we need to worry about the police being defunded. Of course, the ad was for Lindsey Graham.

[samnsara]

1. thats what it means..a good idea but, maybe the some wording needs work....

[brooklynite]

15. Sort of like "Democratic Socialism"...

Redefining what words mean arbitrarily doesn't always work well.

[moof]

2. Agreed. " Law & Order funding reallocation "

would be a better descriptor

[still_one]

3. It doesn't matter what it is "suppossed" to mean, it is a stupid phrase because as you

pointed out it is subject to interpretation

Biden addressed this very clearly, that he was NOT for defunding the police, but for police reform

Of course there is no surprise that the repukes would use this

[KT2000]

18. +1

It was a "shoot yourself in the foot" phrase someone made up.

[Brainfodder]

4. They just use it to install more FEAR.... misleading/lying always optional with them?

They think it's smart to exploit whatever is available?

[magicarpet]

25. Frank Luntz tricky wordsmithing,.. saying something but bending and contorting the framing to,...

... mean something else.

Like "Death Tax" to describe governmental inheritance taxes to prevent hording of capital that leads to the monarch and/or royalty social classes from springing up and monopolizing finances exclusively to their sole gains and benefits - to the exclusion of all other social classes.

[jonstl08]

5. Defund

I heard it was somebody in Black Lives Matter that said the phrase but was quickly backtracked with the meaning to reallocate some police resources to the community as a way to reduce crime. But as usual the right ran with it.

[brush]

6. You're right. The intent was good but the wording is bad.

It should've been "re-allocate police funding" but that doesn't roll off the tongue like a good slogan.

I hope we don't get burned in many races today because of that poor word choice.

[Solomon]

7. Damn. Where the hell have you been all year?!

After today it won't matter what people think.

[BainsBane]

10. Yes it will

because police reform needs to be enacted. The issues don't go away with Trump's (knock on wood) defeat.

[ZZenith]

8. It was that or "All Cops Are Bastards."

Fortunately, “Defund the Police” won out.



Messaging is a little trickier when nuance is needed.

[BainsBane]

9. It's a bad phrase

self-defeating. Everyone tells me it doesn't actually mean "defund" the police. So why on earth call it that? It's terrible branding.

[SomedayKindaLove]

11. Dems seem to have issues phrasing issues

Defund the police? Maybe Restructuring Police Funding.

“Pack the court” has a negative connotation. Maybe rebrand as Expand the Court.

[bigtree]

22. it has nothing to do with the Democratic Party.

...but I understand it's in the interest of some to hang this BLM-initiated slogan on Democrats.

It's not working.

'Pack the court' is something the media has decided to run with, not Democrats.

What's funny is how little republicans and the rw are interested in promoting ANYthing that's actually republican policy.

[dustyscamp]

12. Reform the Police

[Chili]

24. yes - that should've been the theme name

(1) Remove the sociopaths and racists, (2) hire and replace them with new police officers, with the main criteria being common sense and the willingness to work directly with the communities and get to know them, and (3) include social workers and mental health workers on call when necessary.

[rownesheck]

13. Smart people

understand what that phrase means. Dumb people do not. Unfortunately, this country is over loaded with the dumb. But "lower the budget for police and reallocate that money to social services to better serve those in need within the community" isn't a snappy sound bite. Maybe someone can figure out phrasing that will penetrate the cement block noggins of the knuckledraggers.

[misanthrope]

14. When you have to explain a slogan, you have a bad slogan

It should have been "Reform the Police."

[gratuitous]

16. It doesn't matter what it's called

There will always be folks who willfully misconstrue it and conjure up visions of lawless streets and roaming gangs of thugs, while ignoring the very real injuries and deaths of citizens at the hands (and feet, and knees, and sidearms) of untrained and ignorant cops.

[oswaldactedalone]

17. That one phrase is the only reason

Trump has a path to win. The first time I heard it, I cringed because I knew it would be the 2020 version of Benghazi.

[maxsolomon]

23. Bullshit.

Trump has always had a path to win.

White Privilege was always going to pick apart whatever term BLM came up with and use it as a weapon.

They picked apart "Black Lives Matter".

[meadowlander]

30. Yes, but no reason to hand them an own goal.

If you mean "Increase funding for mental health, social and education services so that cops can be just cops" then just say that.

[genxlib]

19. Yes the wording sucks

But it is the result of a true grass roots movement so it gets messy.

As opposed to the astroturfed movements that we are up against that come with thinktanks, consultants, focus groups and near unlimited funding.

[The Magistrate]

20. Someone Wholly Ignorant Of Mass Marketing, Sir

'Police the Police' would be unassailable, and matched to the mood of the great crowds in that moment. Once established, then lowering the budget of police departments, diverting diverting dollars to means of crisis intervention often more efficacious than poorly educated and trained people packing pistols, could be safely brought into the discussion....

[Dem2]

21. Appropriately Fund

Sounds positive, but actually would mean take some of the uniformed police money and use it for more effective social work.

[maxsolomon]

26. You never got an answer as to who "came up with the phrase".

Did you want one, or was it just a rhetorical question?

Through the magic of Wikipedia, it looks like the concept's been in use since the 1960s. Angela Davis is a possible originator.

The current phrase apparently comes from The End of Policing, written by Alex S. Vitale, published in 2017.

[raccoon]

29. It was rhetorical. Nt

[Spider Jerusalem]

27. Defund the shit out of the police, yes

and specifically stop giving them military hardware. When all you have is a hammer, etc.

[DrToast]

28. It means different things to different people

For some people it DOES mean abolish the police.

[Hekate]

31. Some idiot who didn't think how it sounded. If they meant "re-allocate resources better" ...

...they should have said so. As it is, we end up sounding like the prescription is to have no police force at all, and where does that leave someone who has been robbed or raped?