Why the Police Should See the ‘Defund’ Movement as a Golden Opportunity

Abstract

Calls to "defund" police echo through the country, many of them intended to be aggressive taunts. But the police ought to ignore the insult and take the "defund" movement as a golden opportunity to shed the many responsibilities that have distracted them from their primary mission of fighting crime. Over the years "mission creep" has brought police a host of responsibilities that only make their job more difficult and in fact call for a very different kind of expertise and training. Further, many of these activities, such as giving tickets, performing evictions, dealing with homelessness, mental illness, alcoholism, etc. are "no-win" activities for the police. The public will not appreciate their work as they would a criminal stopped or a victim saved. Police should take the opportunity to support this "revolutionary" movement that will do what lots of police chiefs have been urging for years.

Keywords: Criminal justice policy, law enforcement, defund police movement, police departments, mission creep, social services delivery