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this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2024
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Stop that, please.
That entire "defund the police" is the dumbest idea out there. You NEED police, any society needs police. Either that, or next time your being assaulted or robbed, well, sucks to be you.
What the US needs is a completely restructured police system, from the ground up. It needs officers that received training, not the 3-6 months dicking around with idiots that teach them "anyways, then I started blasting". It needs restructuring of yhe laws so that they can be held accountable when they abusre their powers. They need to learn how to de-escalate situations instead of throwing oil on fires. Racism needs to be squeezed out.
This is how police works in other countries, this is why in other countries we actually like and respect police .
This also requires other changes in the US. This justice system based on revenge has to go. Focus on rehabilitation instead. You gotta limit your guns. I know that people start screeching at the idea, bit if by now it's still not clear that US citizens are NOT able to responsibly use their guns, then you have issues. You yourself might be super responsible but the next ten people are not. Take the guns away. Best would be all of it.
Those are things that will make your country nicer, and your police actually respectable.
While I agree that the system needs to be restructured, and rehabilitation and limiting of guns would be very very good policy. The idea of defunding the police exists for a reason.
US courts have ruled that police are not obligated to put themselves in danger for you. So if you are being attacked, and the police believe the attacker could pose a threat to them, they don't have to do anything to help you or stop the attacker. So next time you're being assaulted or robbed, it may still very well suck to be you even with the police in line of sight.
Furthermore, the police spend the budget that they do get on military equipment rather than training their officers in de-escalation.
So at what point do we stop funneling so much money into the police for them to waste it on things that make situations worse. We either have to defund the police and put the money towards other services such as social workers who can de-escalate through non violent means, or start putting restrictions on how the police are able to spend the money, and having stronger guidelines/requirements for the training they go through.
Defund the police means take their bloated military surplus budget, reduce it to reasonable levels and channel those funds into social services instead. It doesn't mean 'erase all cops'
They say something more precise
Defund the police is used uite successfully by extreme right to make centrist and moderate left look dumb
All of that is true, but our police also need to be defunded. Police spending makes up a huge percentage of most municipal budgets, and diverts money from other necessary and helpful things, like social workers, emergency responders, programs for the unhoused, education, etc.
Yeah but you still need police. You need well trained police who know how to de-escalate situations. It also requires a change in how usi citizens look at crime. Prison sentences in Europe are always een as too lenient and lax but that is because in the US they are to punish, to enact revenge for the victims. In Europe prison sentences are also meant to reeducate, to prepare the person to come back to society. If o get arrested in Europe, it sucks. If I get arrested in the US, my life is mostly over. Once you've been a prisoner in the US, and you come back into society, you're fucked. Good luck getting a normal job. It makes it that crimjnals are mucbore aggressive in the US, so police needs to be more aggressive too. You need to change how you handle crime, you need to rework your entire justice system.
Keyword: meant, but i get what you... meant.
No shit. That starts with reducing how much money they're allocated. That's what defunding the police means. It doesn't mean get rid of the police as your implying, it means give them less money, so we have more to spend on social programs, rehabilitation, and other things that actually reduce crime.
...'cos they blow it all on military-grade equipment, among other stuff.
Increase the budget for those things, keep the police budget the same but with the changes op is outlining and reduce the military budget.
Military spending doesn't affect municipal budgets.
police are essentially unneeded in a society that treats its members with compassion. That role is better handled by social workers. Defunding the police seems like a dumb idea to people principally unconcerned with compassion, but extremely concerned with a governmental occupationary force who, in a fit of paranoia, cant imagine that maybe humans arent rabidly violent without a looming threat of violence. One might in fact imagine that police themselves are responsible in part and often in whole for the many systemic failures that appear to justify them at their incredible unrivaled level of funding to you.
Also, you described reforms that would necessarily involve defunding the police. You agree with the position but think you dont because of the soundbite.
Defund the police doesn't mean no police! It means not giving them so much money when that money is better spent on things that actually reduce crime. 99% of all blue collar crime is due to poverty. Why only treat the symptoms when you can get to the root of the problem. If cops really want to stop crime they would be more interested in white collar crime as that has far more impact down the road than any other crime.
Then don't say defund the Police, say that instead. I agree that the US needs to fix a lot of issues, and you need police but restructured.
"Defund the pice" sounds like take all the money away and get rid of police. That's how many conservatives interpret it, and it's used successfully to ridicule the left.
It's not anyone's job to educate and cater to willfully ignorant.
That attitude will get you a lot more ignorant people than you'd like
Whenever i see guns in 'Murica mentioned i always remember these 3 videos.
I have so many questions, but I will limit it to one. Why are you content giving the power to defend yourself to someone else?
Because if you leave it up to each person to defend themselves, you have literal anarchy. You'll have the weaker that will be at the bottom abused and only the strongest on top. You'll have abuse and people getting away with abusing. It's the thing I'm happy is far, far behind us.
We all need trained police.
Police are strong and abuse the "weak". A monopoly on violence does make people weak.
I'm not sure if I am a top or bottom. I prefer horizontal.
No
Police is strong, yes, but in most countries they don't abuse the weak. US police is another thing, but US police is in such a bad state that most US citizens don't even know anymore what police is supposed to be for. Its supposed to be held accountable, it's supposed to protect and serve. US police needs an complete top to bottom overhaul and unfortunately loads of current officers should be fired. A national "don't hire" list should be instated. The police union as it exists today should be torn down and rebuilt too as currently it only exists to protect rotten apples.
But it won't be enough. You'll also have to change how US citizens see the justice system m. Currently it's used as a tool for vengeance more than it's a tool of rehabilitation. You gotta focus more on rehabilitation, people will get back in society one day and I'd like them less criminal, not more. Lower penalties and more pragmatic focus. Right now if I get arrested for a major crime in Europe, I'm in trouble but I'll get help and a few years later I can have my life back on the rails. In the US, my life.is over, so of course I'll be violent to the Police. Prisons must focus on mental health, education, etc.
You'll need to chante gun laws and outlaw most guns, leave a few options available for hunters, sports, etc. US citizens have shown for over a century now tha they can't handle guns responsibly. "But but I do" sure. But the other 99.99% don't. All that violence and regular mass shooting stuff is a unique US thing.
Next up is the racism and poverty divides, they gotta go. Tax the shit out of the rich, use the money to lift everyone up.
That will fix your issues, that will fix your police and make them a friend in the street
Prisons being run by private companies might have an influence on the number of inmates....