Break the police union, sure.
End qualified immunity, absolutely.

It’s not serious. Policing in this country needs a serious review, but statements like “defund the police” make no sense and might be harmful to the overall cause.

The best thing police departments can do is get rid of their troublemakers. They know who they are, but I don’t see that happening.

The detectives who investigate for the prosecutors should not be with the regular police. For that matter neither should the prosecutors. What chance does a person have when the policeman picks them up on the street and has the entire local government one the side of that policeman. The only thing that would be worse is if the judges were located with the police officers.

And to add: Police departments should not be a profit center for a city or state. They should not be under any obligation to write x number of tickets, nor arrest x number of people.

Improve the Police.


Defunding sounds like abolishing the police. It is too hard to explain and will be used against those that support it as wanting anarchy and lawlessness.

Yet they police communities as if they are enemy combatants. Meanwhile, community resources that actually decrease the burden of police have been cut. Mental health services, substance abuse services, housing, education, economic development, youth programs, education, etc. Defund the police and redirect those dollars to those programs.
Its good for the community and the police.

be intellectually dishonest about what this actually means. So " messaging" is the least of my concerns. In any revolution, there will be people that will have to dragged along. They will not come willingly. Hmm, I think in any revolution, that's pretty much the case.

We don't get to change by making the status quo comfortable.

I also believe alienating supporters to a cause is counterproductive.

However, it does seem at least for today, the what I personally find controversial, #defundthepolice #abolishthepolice hashtags have opened up dialog by Democrats on the necessity to reform the system, and that is a good thing.

The same hashtags are also being used by Trump and the GOP to bash Biden and further enrage Trump's base. Not good.

I will refrain from commenting on how you think only racists and intellectually dishonest people could misinterpret what defunding/abolishing means.

Defunding the police is more than a hashtag. That is my point. If that is all people see it as.Yes then its intellectually dishonest. Either that, or they have not thought about what defunding the police means.


Violent crime has been on the decline for 30 years. Yet police have operated as if it is on the rise. Should people not ask what the return is on their billion dollar budgets? Death and increased incarceration which then means more money spent on incarceration? How about we divert those dollars to prevent some of this crime in the first place?

Meanwhile the things that would actually reduce police burden have their budgets cut. Can someone give me a good reason other than messaging and alienating supporters why we should not push to take lets say 1 million dollars from a police department in a community to put school nurses, counselors, social workers and psychologists in that community? Use some of this money to ensure that each school has after school and summer programs that not only keep young people safe, build their self esteem, keep them out of trouble and actually reduce police burden?

If you have burglaries, petty theft due to drug abuse - why not divert those dollars to programs that treat substance abuse

So yes, if people are just saying no because of messaging, I find it intellectually dishonest.

Haven’t come up with some nationwide organized strike yet.

And trump has his new cause to try to recover his base.



Can’t wait for sporting good stores to open again.

[link:https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/17/facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/|

Hence - we should ask the question if they need a hundred billion dollars. Are those dollars better spent elsewhere?

good way to end up with the military patrolling our streets is to defund and completely alienate police forces, giving the DOJ the perfect excuse they need to militarize our cities and towns.

I don't see the good in this as a general approach or talking point. But maybe there's something I'm not considering.

Stick with Black Lives Matter.

It's not the cops on the beat, because many of them are stand-up civic-minded people. The few that need to be fired or otherwise weeded out are immediately defended by the Police Unions, and that's why reform never happens. Well the Unions are protecting the wrong guys, and they are preventing police reforms to ever take place.

It's time to bust these Unions and then reform the police forces.

They shouldn't all be under the umbrella of police, nor should they share the same powers. Traffic enforcers should be unarmed and don't have the power of arrest, but can issue citations. Investigators would have the power of arrest and executing search warrants while investigating serious crime. Emergency responders wouldn't be armed unless the situation calls for it. In addition, they wouldn't be generalized police, but EMTs, social workers, counselors etc. to deal with situations of people in emergency situations as appropriate.

Until there's reform, we have to hit them in the pocket. Not everyone will agree but such is life, we don't always agree on everything.

I shouldn't be followed as a teenager with police chopper above and a barrage of police, into my church yard and being yelled at and disrespected when I ask for a badge #, because supposedly someone had called to say, someone had a gun in a vehicle that matched my vehicles description. We are allowed to carry guns in Florida. However, I didn't own a gun. When my mom called the chief, she received an apology and that's a far as it goes. I should not have to be told stay away from a certain city because there's an increased chance of being pulled over for driving while black. I should not have been followed to my home by the cops on numerous occasions (I've mentioned this here before). It hurts.

I have no criminal record, not even a speeding ticket. I was brought up to respect the law and follow the rules. I have siblings who are police officers. I am the person who will drive the long way instead of breaking the no u-turn sign that was broken by numerous cars before me. I am the person whose co-workers will ask what's the policy on such and such because they know I will not go outside the policy. I do my best to help in my community. Yet, just one look at my skin, and I am deemed a criminal. Seems as if a lot of resources are being spent on frivolous racist errands. So when people call for defunding the police, it's not just a slogan.