The case against defunding America’s police departments

The case for defunding the police by Black Lives Matter advocates will not cure systemic racism in the United States. Consequently, it will only ignite racial divisions, crime, and decay in America’s black communities.

There is no doubt that the harrowing deaths of Black victims, such as George Floyd, deserve justice. And, there is no doubt that America’s police should undergo continuous reform, as U.S. policing was historically involved in an era of

Jim Crow, slavery and segregation.

Rational movements toward social justice for Black victims, however, have been undermined by violent riots, arsonists and looters of businesses — many of whom employ Blacks — proving time and again that America’s police officers are needed now more than ever.

Defunding the police will only increase robberies, gang activity, homicides, and racial disparities within America’s Black communities. And, defunding the police will especially endanger law-abiding African Americans living in high crime areas, whom, one should note, are the very people that call the police when crimes plague their community.

The success of ‘ broken windows policing’ in the 1990s demonstrated historic lows in U.S. crime rates, as officers were granted free-reign to counter acts of panhandling, graffiti, and civil disorder — a few of the many indicators that induce crime in society.

Defunding America’s law enforcement halts any effort to sustain ‘ broken windows policing,’ which in turn imperils the safety of all individuals in every U.S. locale. St. Louis Police

Chief Sam Dotson coined the ‘Ferguson effect’ — following the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri — suggesting that where police fear animus from ‘ broken window’ situations, there becomes a decreased presence of law enforcement and, as a result, an increase in crime.

The egregious acts to defund the police will not only further crimes, but also have psychological repercussions on police officers. By cutting police salaries, officers have little incentive to show up for work, or even pick up the phone when a robbery or homicide occurs.

The Director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League claimed in a June 29, 2020 CBS report, “Morale is low among rank-and-file Los Angeles Police Department Officers.”

Unfortunately, “American Blacks between the ages of 10 and 43 die of homicide at 13 times the rate of whites, according to the CDC.

Thus, the proof of the eating is in the pudding. And, until the population of African Americans living in high crime areas can prove themselves to be civil, law-abiding citizens, policing and the maintenance of law and order must remain.