It is a catchy phrase. But it also is a misnomer that threatens to undermine necessary reforms in policing.
“Defund the police,” activists are saying as protests over police brutality grip the nation and the United States reckons with its treatment of minority citizens. While the phrase already has been taken out of context by those who warn of lawlessness, it serves as a starting point for important conversations.
The death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer has triggered an awakening throughout the country and empowered an examination of what we expect from law enforcement. Change is needed; that has been made clear by a series of African American deaths at the hands of officers caught on camera in recent years — deaths that in previous generations would have been explained away in police reports.
As presidential candidate Joe Biden urged recently: “Let us vow to make this, at last, an era of action to reverse systemic racism. Bad cops should be dealt with severely and swiftly. We all need to take a hard look at the culture that allows for these senseless tragedies to keep happening.”
Biden, like a large majority of Americans, rejects calls to eliminate police departments. Which brings us to the actual meaning behind those words that have entered the lexicon.
Most people who say “defund the police” advocate for demilitarizing police departments, redirecting some money for social services and allowing officers to focus on the core duties of preventing and solving crime. Police have increasingly been asked to be social workers, mental health counselors and domestic dispute arbiters — roles that should be outside their purview. But critics have suggested the phrase means abolishing police.
No, we don’t expect somebody who is the victim of a burglary to call 911 and have a social worker show up. A social worker would provide minimal assistance in the case of, say, an active shooter. But in many situations it might make sense to have a social worker or a trained mediator or a health worker arrive, perhaps accompanied by a police officer.
That goes back to the issue of what we expect from our police force. Reimagining police work from the ground up is not an anti-police position. It is a recognition that police officers are essential in a civilized society, particularly for protecting the most vulnerable among us, and it is an acknowledgment that all Americans have a shared interest in helping officers do their jobs more effectively.
To reach that point, leaders in all communities must be willing to listen. Communities of color long have complained that police forces act as occupying armies, an assertion that has gained clarity with video evidence of abuses against African Americans. Changing that perception should begin with questions about the role to be played by officers who put themselves in danger to protect the public.
A vast majority of officers are noble public servants, and the focus on egregious misuses of power unfairly taints all law enforcement. But, as Biden said, it is past time to examine the culture that allows bad cops to infest departments. In 2006, a bulletin from the FBI warned of white supremacists infiltrating law enforcement; in too many cases we are seeing the manifestation of that culture.
“Defund the police” is a memorable slogan, but it oversimplifies the crisis facing this nation. Unfortunately, “reduce police funding and invest in communities while rooting out bad cops” doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker.
