New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
A better answer on police budgets
The Connecticut Task Force on Police Transparency and Accountability has been suggesting reforms to the Connecticut police force dating back to 1903. On Jan. 11, the task force voted to approve a report that summarizes the various reforms that it would like to see implemented statewide.
In recent years, police reform has become a hotly debated topic that seems to be divided mostly along political lines. But why is this? After all, policing should be a social issue, not a political one; however, in today’s polarizing society this is simply not the case. Harry Zaher, author of “Defunding the police is a logical way to reduce harm” in the CTMirror writes, “We want to invest in fostering community, building accountability and preventing harm before it occurs.” But in a city such as New Haven, with a crime index of 6 (100 being the safest) and a violent crime rate that is one of the highest in the nation, a reduction in police presence would torment the city and likely spike the city’s crime rates. While tackling issues such as lack of housing, unaffordable health care, low wages, unemployment, poor public transportation, low-quality education, unaddressed mental illness, generational trauma and embedded cultural norms are all important issues, these are not overnight solutions, and will take years if not decades for bills and policies focused on solving these issues to be implemented and for the state budget to be adjusted accordingly.
I believe that there is a more rapid and readily accessible solution to the city’s crime rates, ongoing history of police violence and negative relations between residents and law enforcement officers. This solution comes in the form of reforms to all Connecticut police departments. Such reforms include having more social workers and mental health experts respond to certain calls
and examining interactions between officers and people with disabilities in order to find ways to better conduct them. These reform incentives are all laid out in the aforementioned task forces report.
The task force also includes proposals to end “broken-window” policing or stops for low-level administrative and equipment offenses; implement the psychological evaluation of officers into the recertification process; prohibit chokeholds and neck restraints; collect data on people the police are stopping; mandate body-worn cameras; ensure that police training includes the history of past policing and its injustices; require 500 hours of community service before becoming an officer; and require a duty to intervene when officers witness misconduct.
The solutions to New Haven’s relationship with police can only be found in a
community effort. Implementing new training and reform to better equip officers with the tools necessary to deescalate high-stress calls will only help to bridge the divide between the city’s residents and those in charge of policing their communities. Following the city’s $4 million budget cut to policing, New Haven has only experienced a rise in homicides and violent crime. Clearly the people of New Haven have not benefited from defunding the police, thus, perhaps the most impactful solution would in fact be to increase the police budget, allocating more money to training reform.
I believe that it would be in cities’ best interest to see the reforms laid out by the Connecticut Task Force on Police Transparency and Accountability go through.