(Natalia Mittelstadt) A number of American cities that defunded their police departments have seen major spikes in crime and citizen pleas to restore funding, according to Sinclair’s “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.”
Related Are Voter ID Laws Racist? Blacks in Harlem Set the Record Straight [Video]
by Natalia Mittelstadt, April 18th, 2021
The cities slashed their police budgets after George Floyd died last summer while in police custody. A deadly April incident, wherein police shot and killed Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minn., more calls have arisen to reform, and – from some circles – abolish the police. In Attkisson’s latest show, the investigative journalist examined the consequences of those actions.
The Minneapolis city council voted to divert $9 million from the $178 million police budget to violence prevention and mental health.
Don Samuels, a community organizer and civil rights activist, has lived in North Minneapolis for over 20 years. “We who live in communities like this, we understand that there are a lot of people who are only restrained by external factors … Like the police, like the neighbors who are intervening.”
Samuels said that since the police budget has been cut, “We’ve heard more gunshots. We used to hear one gunshot every now and then. It seems like now everybody has an automatic rifle or something because it’s 20 shots at a time.”
As a result, Samuels said that, “For the first time — and let me say, my wife and I moved here to be part of the civil rights movement, the transformation of our community — for the first time since we’ve moved here, we said to each other something that we’ve never said before in 24 years, ‘Maybe we’ll have to move.'”
Across the country, other cities have made dramatic cuts, from New York taking $1 billion from its force, Washington, D.C. cutting $15 million, and Austin and Los Angeles each trimming $150 million from theirs.
In Minneapolis, the homicide rate jumped 70% in 2020, with violent crime up 22%.
Kevin Davis was the Baltimore police commissioner in 2017, as that city was reeling from its own riots following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. Now Davis teaches college students about criminal justice.
“When I first heard the words ‘defund,’ ‘dismantle,’ and ‘abolish,’ I cringed because I knew what folks meant because it was an effort to reform to enhance, to make better. But I think once those words kind of stuck, particularly defund the police or dismantled the police, that distracted from the necessary reforms that have to take place,” Davis said.
Samuels and his neighbors are now suing the city of Minneapolis, to add more police. Based on a per capita mandate in the city’s charter, Minneapolis must have around 750 officers. Because so many have quit or out on long-term leave, some struggling with PTSD, the department is currently about 100 officers short of that number, says James Dickey, the attorney for the group of eight residents suing.
Like Los Angeles, New York City, and Austin, Minneapolis believes it needs to refund the police.
The Minneapolis police chief agrees there needs to be more officers, as does the mayor, who recently secured $6.4 million to recruit new officers.
“Here’s a news flash, all these enhancements cost money,” Davis said. “They require budget enhancements. So the same time we’re using unfortunate terms like defund and dismantle, that the changes that we want to see made in our profession are going to require an even greater investment. Now I know not everyone likes to hear that, but that’s really what’s going to get us to a better place.”
President Joe Biden, who says he doesn’t support defunding the police and campaigned on the promise of criminal justice reform, has brought back Obama-era federal investigations of local police departments, leading to direct Washington oversight in some cities that can last for years. Last month, his Justice Department directed the FBI, ATF, and U.S. Marshals to help the Minneapolis police.
Biden has been under pressure to make systemic changes.
“We also have an awful lot of things we have to deal with, not — when it — when it comes to police, when it comes to advancing equality, economic opportunity … We do know that the anger, pain, and trauma that exists in the black community in that environment is real, it’s serious, and it’s consequential, but it will not justify violence and or looting,” Biden said.
Organic Lion’s Mane Mushroom, proven to grow new brain cells and synapses. Guard against Alzheimer’s, dementia, and mental decline. Save 10% and get free shipping with a subscription!“I can feel my mind getting sharper with Lion’s Mane. I put it in my coffee.”
Get your Lion’s Mane from Ascent Nutrition, one of the most pure and potent in the industry.
Stillness in the Storm Editor: Why did we post this?
The news is important to all people because it is where we come to know new things about the world, which leads to the development of more life goals that lead to life wisdom. The news also serves as a social connection tool, as we tend to relate to those who know about and believe the things we do. With the power of an open truth-seeking mind in hand, the individual can grow wise and the collective can prosper.
– Justin
Not sure how to make sense of this? Want to learn how to discern like a pro? Read this essential guide to discernment, analysis of claims, and understanding the truth in a world of deception: 4 Key Steps of Discernment – Advanced Truth-Seeking Tools.
Stillness in the Storm Editor’s note: Did you find a spelling error or grammatical mistake? Send an email to [email protected], with the error and suggested correction, along with the headline and url. Do you think this article needs an update? Or do you just have some feedback? Send us an email at [email protected]. Thank you for reading.
Source:
https://justthenews.com/government/security/violent-consequences-defunding-police
Support our work! (Avoid Big Tech PayPal and Patreon)DIRECT DONATION
Leave a Reply