Demanding that police departments around the country get “de-funded,” Black Lives Matters [BLM] has the upper hand, coercing elected officials to make concessions following the May 25 chokehold murder of George Floyd. Protests, including riots, looting, arson and anarchy, erupted around the country, with demonstrators by the thousands in over 150 U.S. cities violating social distancing orders in the age of Covd-19. Black Lives Maters and other African American lobbying groups are pressuring cities, counties and states to pony up more cash to the black community, essentially transferring funding from police to other black civil rights and social welfare groups. No one dares question the advisability to taking essential funding away from police departments and transferring it to unknown funding sources. BLM wants no one to ask any questions about whether changes would lead to more crime.
BLM says there are systemic problems in police departments around the country without presenting any data to prove it. No one disagrees that George Floyd’s chokehold murder by 44-year-old Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin was a colossal failure in policing. But Floyd’s murder was one case, even though there have been others over the years. If BLM thinks de-funding the police will reduce mistakes they’re sadly mistaken. More money is needed to beef up police screening for new applicants, mental health screening for existing employees, more programs for post-traumatic stress and better over all training for police departments around the country. De-funding police makes zero sense if BLM wants police departments around the country to be more accountable for unfortunate mishaps that unfortunately occur. Elected officials, no matter how sympathetic to Floyd’s death, can’t capitulate
Law enforcement agencies around the country receive about $115 billion a year in funding. BLM would like to see some fraction of that funding to go to what it considers priority funding for the African American community. No matter how tragic Floyd’s death, the African American community is only 13% of the U.S. population with many other groups depending on the police for safety. “Why can’t wee look at how it is that we reorganize our priorities, so people don’t have to be in the streets during a national pandemic?” said BLM co-founder Alicia Garza on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” If Garza’s words are interpreted the way they sound, she’ll continue street demonstrations, maybe riots, unless she gets what she wants. What other group in the country can coerce civil society into making concessions to any one group? Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) tried to explain “de-funding” differently.
Booker said that “de-funding” had to do with priority spending for police departments, not shutting them down. “We are investing in police, which is not solving problems, but making them worse when we should be, in a more compassionate country, in a more loving country,” Booker told Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Pres” Sunday. Booker’s saying basically the same thing as BLM, that funding from the police should be allocated for other programs impacting the African American community. Booker can’t speak only for the African American community when talking about how he’d like to see funds allocated to minority communities. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) tried to clarify “de-funding.” “Now, I don’t believe that you should disband police departments,” Bass said. “But I do think that, in cities, in states we need to look at how we are spending the resources and investment more in our communists.”
Minneapolis has decided to end the police department as it was previously constituted. “It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” said Lisa Bender, City Council president. “Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period,” indicating that Minneapolis will try something different. Sweeping changes to police department have occurred before in Camden, N.J. and Compton, Calif. In Compton’s case, the city contracted its policing out with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, something that has pluses-and-minuses. When police departments are not local to individual cities or towns, it’s difficult for police to understand the unique needs of individual communities. Minneapolis might find that their rush-to-change the police department to placate BLM or other groups might increase security risking to the community.
No lobbying group that represents only 13% of the population can impose its demands on the rest of the community. While there’s nothing wrong with expressing wants or priorities, there’s something very wrong with coercing communities into following demands with the treat of more street protests. Responding to BLM’s demands in Los Angeles, 49-year-old Mayor Eric Garcetti signaled that he’s removing $150 million from the LAPD’s budget, something that drew fire from the Los Angeles Police Protective League. “Cutting the LAPD budget means longer responses to 911 emergency calls, officers calling back for back-up won’t get it, and rape, murder and assault investigations won’t occur or will take forever to initiate, let alone complete,” said the Union’s board in a statement. Garcetti has jumped the gun to placate BLM, rather than consider the consequences.
