An Alternative to Defunding The Police (Summary)

Background

Recently, all across America we have had civil unrest that I personally believe is long overdue. We're hurt, we're angry, we're disgusted and quite frankly we're fed up. Too often, the very people that we pay in taxes to protect and serve our communities are abusing their power in communities of color and in the last month, it has resulted in the deaths of our beloved brother George Floyd and sister Breonna Taylor. As we anticipate a verdict from our judicial system, many of us are less than confident that justice will prevail because, let's be honest, justice doesn't usually prevail when officers murder unarmed black men and women.

As a result of our frustration and hunger for change to the systemic discrepancies we face, many of us are seeking solutions to solve the repetitive issues we face in black communities.

One of the more popular calls for change today includes "Defunding The Police" forces by reallocating some of the local police departments' budgets to other programs within the communities including education, social work, healthcare, infrastructure, housing and more with the desire to lessen crime rates and pour more into the people within each respective community.

Although I understand the sentiment, I respectfully see things differently. In fact, I don't believe we should take a single dollar from our police forces. Below I have explained some of the problems I see with "Defunding The Police", why I see those as problems, and some solutions I believe will be beneficial to the black communities. These solutions aren't easy to implement, but based on my research they will bring sustainable change to all communities effected by them.

 Please comment your responses and share this message with everyone you believe needs to hear it.

Problems

Defunding the Police is the solution to two main issues. The first is the abuse of power by police in predominately black neighborhoods which too often results in the murder of black men and women without due process.

The second is reducing crime rates and providing as many opportunities for our black Americans to thrive as our white counterparts have. 

The first problem with defunding the police is that when it’s comes to funding, entities that are best funded are best equipped to recruit better candidates, train those candidates and keep their team happy as they come to work every day. 

One of the primary basic needs of a human is safety and ensuring that our police have plenty resources to do their jobs is always a worthwhile investment. 

Our schools, social work, healthcare, infrastructure, not housing (because we need to be motivated to leave public housing anyway), and business development could all benefit from a healthier budget. I will however, say money alone won’t help black communities the way many would like to think. 

The thing about budget solutions is that they never truly affect the hearts and minds of the people they’re supporting. 

Because defunding has been presented as a way to curve crime, we must realize that one of the main reasons we continue to commit crimes at alarming rates is that many in our communities have learned to depend on aid such as food stamps, medicaid and section 8 in perpetuity because it’s easy. I’m all for these resources, but they should be used as stepping stones and not concrete ways of life. Abusing these programs as an alternative to taking responsibility for themselves and their families reduces the abuser’s cognitive control which leads to a lack of ambition. That means they have no goals, no plans and no reason to essentially “Get themselves together.” 

A wise man once said “If you want to keep people enslaved, do everything for them.”

The sad truth is that as long as we aren’t taking responsibility for ourselves, we restrict our personal and therefore community development. As a result, high school drop-out rates, poverty levels, crime rates, illiteracy rates, teen pregnancies, single parent households, abusive households and more are all at risk to increasing at an exponential pace. 

Controlled statistics show that all these factors lead to more run-ins with police. 

Solutions

Because there are two main issues that defunding sets out to tackle, there are two main alternatives. 

The first has to do with police accountability.

I believe punishments should be more severe for officers in wrongful death situations just like killing an officer warrants capital punishment. 

Similar to the arrest inquiry sites with information on the civilian arrests and records, I believe officers’ reputations should be public and communities should be allowed to petition for an officer to be removed from their jurisdiction and guarantee their local department will be complicit.

Along with that, I believe there should be outside of uniform and suspected crime opportunities to build mutual respect and trust between officers and members of the communities they serve. 

 This allows our community members and our police officers to familiarize themselves with each other as people in a neutral, fun environment. That way, when on calls, familiar faces show up to serve familiar faces. 

On the other end, I believe black communities need trustworthy leadership. Not just one person either. We need a legion of people that are committed to changing the culture. We must be committed to the communities we serve and the mission we collectively work to accomplish. 

In order to truly make a difference, those of us who are most passionate about lifting people out of oppression have to first better ourselves. We all have to increase our self worth to increase our net worth and use moral, economic and social power to improve our community’s standard of living.

We need a network of ACTION Takers that set out to individually and collectively say "Not only does Black Lives Matter, but 'Black Lifestyles Matter' as well.” From there, we can all come together and influence a culture of love for neighbors and self within our communities. Peer Consulting is a perfect way to do that.

Click the link below to get more information about how Assisting Communities Through Intercultural Outreaching Networks as a Peer Consultant can help bring the change we’ve been seeking in black communities for the last century. 

 

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