Few if any Democratic State or Local official is to actually cut their police budgets….
Even with the pandemic and rough economies?
People need their cops….
But?
There IS and should be moves to break down the barriers between law enforcement and the public that lives with them and depends on their help….
Democrats will have to wrestle with the issues (even among themselves) as Republicans will try to use the continual ‘law and order’ thing against them politically….But in the end?…Democrats MUST pushback against being seen as anti-basic safety for the public….
That IS also attached to the immigration situation going on now also…
As Democrats turn toward defending their congressional majorities next year, the party is running headlong into one important piece of unfinished business: the bitter debate over whether protesters’ push to defund the police seriously damaged their prospects in 2020.
Nearly five months after Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) angrily scolded her colleagues in a widely leaked call for saying “defund the police when that’s not what we mean,” the argument over its impact is still raging…
…
The competing efforts within the party to shape the narrative surrounding the issue could have far-reaching effects on how Democrats position themselves in the midterm elections. It could also influence their relationship with base voters who will be key to the party’s success in 2022, particularly Black people, Latinos and young Americans.
What’s certain is that the party will have a rich body of research to draw from. Priorities USA, a top liberal super PAC, has surveyed voters on their attitudes about pulling money from police departments as well as racial justice. A coalition of outside groups is working with the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus to examine the effect of the attacks on defunding the police as part of a larger post-mortem of the 2020 election. Black Lives Matter leaders are considering a formal response to moderates’ complaints about the demand.
A recent USA Today/Ipsos poll found that fewer than one in five respondents back efforts to “defund the police,” while 58 percent are against them. Many lawmakers, including the influential Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), have argued that the movement hurt Democratic congressional candidates…
…
The GOP attack ads accusing Democrats of wanting to strip resources from cops were not any more powerful than other TV spots run by Republicans. On the other hand, Democratic ads that refuted the GOP’s claims that they were looking to defund the police made a difference: Those candidates who aired such spots performed better than President Joe Biden by 1.5 percentage points for every 1,000 gross ratings points — a measure of advertising impact — run.
The lesson, Weaver said, is that “not addressing certain false allegations explicitly and head-on is a strategic error that many cannot afford to make.” But only a quarter of House Democratic candidates in the most contested races countered the GOP’s blitz on broadcast television, he said….
Of course you can’t even talk about this anymore.
A shame really.
You could cut every police department budget in the country by 10-20% with no adverse effect on anything.
What about around ur way Jack?
And cuts to the police budgets?
None of course.
And what does that have to do with anything?
I already acknowledged that if you read and Comprehended my point.
People in all parts of Providence (although of course not everyone, e.g. the Defund the Police committee of our local DSA) would be more comfortable seeing the return of foot and bicycle patrols; they go hand in hand with the Providence Police Department’s embrace (or at least its commanders’ embrace) of community policing.
But we can’t see more of them until the academy graduates more qualified police officers and the Department’s complement returns closer to (if not equal to) previous levels.
On the other hand, the police themselves realize that they’re not equipped by themselves to deal with the forces driving vagrancy, truancy, homelessness, mental illness, domestic violence, addiction and hunger, and that therefore they need the support of more social and case workers; i.e. that those services also need to increase.
I agree with the need for SPENDING the money fir MORE cops and taking them out of the cars and having them be more involved in their ‘beats’….
The police job is always gonna involve juggling the expertise of many occupations and whike more training could work ?
Officials have but si much money to spend and the other people u mention do NOT work 24/7 365…..
No, James, I don’t believe that the police should try too hard to substitute themselves for marriage counsellors, social workers, etc.
But when patrolling our main square, Kennedy Plaza/Burnside Park, the police do work as a team with a social worker, a counsellor or a housing enabler (at different hours, not just 9-5/M-F, when dealing with the homeless and other transients — the best solution all around often does not include enforcing criminal or municipal law.
If ur place can do that ?
Bravo!
Most can’t or won’t