This week’s readings by Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis focus on the history of systematic injustices and civil rights. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King brings attention to the several major racial injustices in the African American community faces, one of which is causing massive outrage across the country to this day, with that injustice being police brutality. For the past couple of months, thousands of protests have taken place nationwide in response to the recent and tragic killings of black individuals by police officers. Along with these protests has entered the very controversial debate/movement of defunding the police.
At first, I, along with many others, was a bit confused behind what this idea of defunding the police meant. Does defunding the police mean abolishing law enforcement entirely? Does it mean creating an anarchist state? Opponents of the movement for defunding the police will most likely argue that the answer to these questions is yes and seem to fear that defunding the police will result in a catastrophic increase in crime. However, from my research, the answer seems to suggest otherwise. Los Angeles actually became one of the first major cities to do this. In August, several news organizations reported that Los Angeles would cut funds for the LAPD by nearly $150 billion dollars. That may seem like a massive cut, however, it’s hardly a dent. According to the Los Angeles Times, the original proposed budget for the LAPD accounted for 53.8% of the city’s annual budget. After the $150 billion cuts, the LAPD budget still accounted for a whopping 51.1% of the proposed annual budget.
It seems to me that defunding the police is rather a call for racial justice and to bring attention to the large amounts of funds the police force receives compared to other social programs such as education, healthcare, and housing. The argument for defunding the police seems to lie in this idea of not necessarily abolishing law enforcement, but rather to reallocate funds from the police force to social programs and underfunded minority communities. Personally, I support the movement of defunding the police. After all, it does seem a bit crazy that one city has a police budget that is approximately ⅛ of Canada’s entire military budget. I feel that reallocating these funds to underfunded communities and social programs is a much more effective way of using these funds.
References
King, Martin L. Letter from the Birmingham Jail. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1994.
Ray, Rashawn. “What Does ‘Defund the Police’ Mean and Does It Have Merit?” Brookings, 19 June 2020, www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/06/19/what-does-defund-the-police-mean-and-does-it-have-merit.
United States, Congress, National Defence. Defence Budget, Government of Canada. 03 April. 2020, https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/transition-materials/defence-101/2020/03/defence-101/defence-budget.html
Zahniser, David, et al. “Defund the LAPD? At This Pace, It Would Take 20 Years to Hit Black Lives Matter’s Goal .” Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2020, www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-08-11/defund-lapd-la-budget-spending-priorities.
Wow, I did not realize how large the los angles police departments budget actually was. I wish the movement of “defund the police” would change the movements title because I think it takes away from the mission and overall goal. Saying “defunding the police” allows the media to twist the mission and goals of this specific movement to discredit the intention and ultimately desired impact behind it.
Nice post! I think that a lot of people think that the saying “defund the police” means that police will completely be defunded and won’t be receiving anything but that isn’t the case. I totally support this movement and it is crazy how much large amounts of funds go to the police.
I really did not know what defunding the police meant, either. You gave me some knowledge behind the topic, though, and I am grateful for that because when I look at these facts, they are surprising. I work in the healthcare field, so if defunding the police means more money towards medicine and figuring out more cures, I am all for it! Your post was very logical and interesting.
I also am working in the healthcare field, so I appreciate your take on maybe defunding the police to gain more resources for those of us in the medical industry. I felt this context research presentation made a plethora of interesting, and knowledgable topics. There has been a lot of peaceful protests in history, as well as some violent protests, both situations in which the police has responded to with force and violence. Thank you for bringing this up.
I was also pretty confused about what defunding the police actually meant for awhile. I completely agree with the movement, as it is a very reasonable action against the racial injustice that’s occurred in the police system. I am shocked by how much the LA police departments made, and I’m glad that’ll be dispersed to other public funded jobs like education.
Very informative post! While I have been hearing about the idea to defund the police for months now, I did not understand what that really meant until now. Additionally, the statistics you provided about the LAPD’s enormous budget in comparison to the budget for Canada’s entire military were eye-opening. Although I think the enforcement of the law is important for any society, I agree with you that LA’s police budget does seem excessive (although I do not have much knowledge of how much it costs to operate a police force). Your final few sentences also prompted some thoughts about potential ways to reallocate funds. Could some money be removed from police force budgets and be used to improve other aspects of society?
That idea-reallocation of police funds- is the idea of the defund the police movement. Many things that the police do, like welfare checks, responding to domestic violence, calls for suicidal people, would be better served by trained mental health professionals and those trained in deescalation instead. Those funds would go from the police to new agencies. Also, many calls police respond to, like “vagrancy” could be better addressed by addressing the underlying causes of homelessness.
It’s great to get context from the text in class to the real world social movement. It’s 150 million not billion but I strongly agree with you that the LAPD get too much budget. 50% of budget would be about 5 billion which is a scary number. However, I disagree that you use this example to demonstrate your follow opinions. This example rather than showing the consequence of cutting budget, it shows the huge overflow on the budget. This kind of cutting is more likely to be a symbol of warning rather than a real cut. Also, it don’t really help a lot on the other social program. To really adjust the funds to police, a much larger change need to be make on the budget and a complicate soical change might happens as a result.
I love how you applied this weeks readings and topics to real world implications. I believe you made a typo, the LAPD cuts were $150 million according to the article provided. Nonetheless, I think budget cuts can be made ultimately in any department in some form or fashion. Whether from the relocation of resources or just an unnecessary flux of money. The topic of defunding the police is a very tricky topic. While some are stating to “defund the police” in the form of relocation of capital, others are literally wanting to abolish the police department. The Minneapolis city council voted unanimously in late June to abolish the police department. Now other steps must be taken for this to occur, but this is a frightening occurrence. I think the relocation of resources to involve much more in-depth training for police officers is a key for the long-term, not just he short-term. Budget cuts could potentially be made by shifting resources to more violent or serious crimes, rather than excessive traffic stops for speeding and parking violations. Law and order is essential, and I think massive budget cuts without a focus on training could lead down a slippery slope. Many major cities have seen a massive increase in crime rate and shootings this summer.
References
Feuerherd, Ben. “Minneapolis City Council approves measure to abolish police force.” New York Post, 26 June 2020. https://nypost.com/2020/06/26/minneapolis-city-council-approves-measure-to-abolish-police-force/.
Southall, Ashley. “Shootings Have Soared. Is the N.Y.P.D Pulling Back?” The New York Times, 24 August 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/nyregion/nyc-shootings-nypd.html.
I learned a lot from reading this post! By comparing the LAPD’s budget to Canada’s overall military budget, you were able to really put into perspective just how much money goes to the LAPD. By reallocating funds to other programs like you mentioned, crime would probably go down. In my opinion, putting more money towards programs that will help citizens’ mental health and well-being seems like a much better use of the money. I agree with your stance on defunding the police.
Loved reading this post! I am glad you talked in depth about what defunding the police actually means. I think a lot of individuals think it means get rid of the police when in reality we want to change the system. I think taking some of those funds and putting it back into the community will benefit everybody.
I really enjoyed reading this post and I think it brings up several important points that needed to be addressed! If more money is put into programs that help people in low-income areas receive a proper education and have equality of opportunity, then less crime would occur in the first place. Those with a higher education have the ability and resources to become successful, meaning they do not have to engage in crime in order to maintain a stable living. Thus, if we could put money into reducing poverty and giving people a chance at a good life, not nearly as much police presence would be needed and the standard of living would be much higher too. Additionally, I remember hearing on the news a few months ago that some police officers train only a fraction of the time that a cosmetologist trains. This is concerning to hear because police officers have weapons with them, but instead of being thoroughly trained to use them, they are pretty much “let off the hook” and use personal motives to hurt innocent people far too often. It is sad to see that so much money is put into law enforcement programs, yet police officers are still not trained properly and the system still has corruption in it. As a result, I think funds need to be transferred to other more beneficial government programs.
I really appreciate the perspective that you brought to this post to educate yourself and others. I have seen “defund the police” all over social media, and have been a bit confused as to what it meant. I didn’t think that it was to completely eradicate all funding of law enforcement (as this would be dangerous, but is it more dangerous than what law enforcement is currently doing?), but at the same time, it very well could be. After reading more into Dr. King’s letter and Lewis’ graphic novel-styled book, I gained a lot more understanding of the civil rights movement. As a white woman, I have not experienced racial segregation personally, but I have definitely tried to stand up for what is right, which is racial equality! Defunding the police, to your point, is not an act of rebellion, but an act of regulation and safety. Reallocation of funds to support racial justice is not only an intelligent and moral idea, but (in my opinion), the correct answer to the racial injustice and segregation present in today’s society and politics.
This was a very interesting topic that you chose. Although 150 million dollars seems like a lot of money, I worry that it will not be enough to truly help the other sectors of their budget that need it. The fact that police spending still accounts for over half of the budget is insane, and in my opinion, wrong. I believe that the majority of that money should be spent on helping better education and those in poverty. I believe that the goal of defunding police is not to get rid of them, but to put more money into programs that help increase equality. It will take a lot more than 150 million dollars to truly create this type of change.
Great context! Really great and thorough post!
I live in an area of town that is adjacent to the Hilltop, which is a very depressed part of the city. There are issues of crime, drugs, prostitution, homelessness and the list goes on. I would love to see a reallocation of funds to support the homeless and those in need in meaningful ways. I am often disheartened by the inaccurate portrayal of defunding the police by the media and our current president and administration. I do see this as part of the path to a better future.
(Gen Z folks – we need you! VOTE!)