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Erik Caballero

Prof. Martinez

ENGL1302

9 February 2024

Defunding the Police

Cutting American police budgets might have perverse effects: Defunding the police The

Economist (Online); London (Jul 7, 2020)

https://www.proquest.com/docview/2421186570/10F22C47337D4A10PQ/1?accountid=7081&s

ourcetype=Magazines

“Defund” means different things in different circles. But at its core is a demand that

police budgets be cut and that money be diverted to other services to support public safety, such

as mental-health counselors and social workers”

Cutting American police budgets might have perverse effects: Defunding the police The

Economist (Online); London (Jul 7, 2020)

https://www.proquest.com/docview/2421186570/10F22C47337D4A10PQ/1?accountid=7081&s

ourcetype=Magazines

“How the money raised can be used varies from place to place. Federal law forbids police

departments from putting future forfeiture proceeds in their budget plans. Some jurisdictions also

ban their use for personnel costs, which make up two-thirds of police”

DEFUNDING POLICE AGENCIES Su, Rick; O'Rourke, Anthony; Binder, Guyora.

Emory Law Journal; Atlanta Vol. 71, Iss. 6, (2022): 1197-1271 “In reaction, states have enacted

anti-defunding bills checking local government reduction of law enforcement budgets. These
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anti-defunding measures continue a long tradition of state and federal control over local police

spending, subverting local democratic control over police agencies.”

DEFUNDING POLICE AGENCIES Su, Rick; O'Rourke, Anthony; Binder, Guyora.

Emory Law Journal; Atlanta Vol. 71, Iss. 6, (2022): 1197-1271

“The defunding movement emerged from the work of Black-led activists to reassert

democratic control over policing and shift resources to social service agencies and other

institutions serving community needs”

Social identity and support for defunding the police in the aftermath of George Floyd’s

murder Jackson, Jonathan; Fine, Adam; Bradford, Ben; Trinkner Rick. Group Processes &

Intergroup Relations: GPIR; London Vol. 26, Iss. 4, (Jun 2023): 833-858.

DOI:10.1177/13684302221128230

“In the spring and summer of 2020, police in the United States killed Breonna Taylor,

George Floyd, and other unarmed people of color. In one of the largest social movements in the

nation’s history, thousands engaged in public protests and called to defund or abolish the police.”

Defunding the police through shared service agreements: The impact on cost savings,

staffing, and public safety using a bias‐corrected synthetic control analysis Mazeika, David.

Criminology & Public Policy; Hoboken Vol. 22, Iss. 3, (Aug 2023): 561-584. DOI:10.1111/1745-

9133.12624

“New Jersey (NJ) is home to more than 460 municipal police departments, including

close to 60 with fewer than 11 officers. In total, the state spends around $3 billion per year on

policing, 20% of the typical municipal budget.”

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The impact of the War-on-Police on the United States Tourism Industry tourism? Tarlow,

Peter. International Journal of Safety and Security in Tourism and Hospitality; Buenos Aires Iss.

22, (2021): 1-22.7

“ Tourism is already suffering from Covid-19 restrictions, difficulties in travel and media

fear. Added to this is a new crime wave often due to lack of police officers, police reticence in

becoming involved due to a lack of political support, fear of the media, and lack of security

resources. “

A color-blind Lens: public perceptions of systemic racism in the criminal justice system

Dunbar, Adam; Holbrook, Mia Abboud. Crime, Law and Social Change; Dordrecht Vol. 79, Iss.

1, (Jan 2023): 1-20. DOI:10.1007/s10611-022-10032-3

“Extensive research has explored public confidence in the criminal justice system and

opinions about punishment, but less research has explored attitudes about criminal justice errors,

including error related to race and racism”

Good and Bad Ways to Address Police Violence Rosenthal, Lawrence. The Urban

Lawyer; Chicago Vol. 48, Iss. 4, (Fall 2016): 675-736.

“Racially-skewed policing not only has tangible consequences in terms of the

disproportionate use of force against persons of color, but it also contributes to a racial skew in

public perceptions: a poll commissioned by a presidential task force found that 83% of whites

had a "great deal" or "fair amount" of confidence in the police, while only 63% of Hispanics and

52% of black people shared that view.10 This racial disparity has been reflected in polling data

for some time.”

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Are Ethnically Diverse Communities "Bad" Communities? An Empirical Study on Social

Capital Formation in Northern Vietnam Saint-Macary, Camille. IDEAS Working Paper Series

from RePEc; St. Louis, 2012.

“Using data from rural communities in which ethnic heterogeneity was induced through

involuntary resettlement policies in the 1960s, we estimate the exogenous effect of ethnic

heterogeneity on individual participation in local organizations and households' social network

capital.”

Democrats and Defunding Police; A U.S. Senate candidate tries to distance himself from

the radical groups endorsing him. Freeman, James. Wall Street Journal (Online); New York,

N.Y.. 16 Sep 2022.

“Democrats who joined in reckless political attacks on police need voters to forgive and

forget the crime surge that followed. Don't count on it, especially when it comes to candidates

who continue to attract the enthusiastic support of defunders.”

John Fetterman says defunding the police 'was always absurd' Dorman, John L. Business

Insider, US edition; New York. 18 Oct 2022

“Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman in an interview published on

Tuesday said the concept of defunding the police "was always absurd."

During an interview with newly-launched news platform Semafor, Fetterman told political

reporter David Weigel that he did not believe in cutting back on law enforcement, arguing that

having fewer police on the streets would only lead to increased crime rates.”
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The idea of defunding the police has been around for a while now and reached its peak

popularity in 2020. Defunding the police means removing funds from the police to hurt the

police department or to discourage people from joining the police force, “Defund” means

different things in different circles. Defunding the police differs from person to person and from

state to state. But at its core is a demand that police budgets be cut, and that money is diverted to

other services to support public safety, such as mental health counselors and social workers”-

page 1, paragraph 2. Some people believe they should redistribute the money into other

community resources or services to help individuals who are discriminated against get a job or

learn a trait. People are shocked by what happened “We didn’t think this is where we would be,”

said Clarice Criss, a member of a group called In Defense of Black Lives Dallas. This is one of

many quotes said during the peak of defunding the police after the incident of 2020 since no one

expected defunding and retaliation would ever get this bad and violent. Some other individuals

want the police force gone altogether. Others have different opinions some people say that it is

good to have a strong police force to keep the safe and secure but feel there needs to be big

structural changes within law enforcement. The goal is to promote alternatives that can improve

public safety and well-being. Some states fought against the defunding of their police

departments “In reaction, states have enacted anti-defunding bills checking local government

reduction of law enforcement budgets”-Defunding the police (abstract). These anti-defunding

acts continue a tradition of state and federal control over police spending, subverting local

democratic control over police agencies. There are many different ideas of what should happen to

the funding of a police department and where that money should go, and there are some good

suggestions like putting all that money towards social services, education (schools), mental

health programs, and parks. These ideas are based on the fact that if you remove the things that
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cause problems and crimes and give the youth a better life and promise a better future, there

wouldn’t be that much crime, so therefore, there wouldn't be a need for a police department.

As much as there are many reasons why people think defunding the police is a good idea and it's

going to make more improvements instead of damages, there are many other concerns. One of

the main concerns is that there won’t be enough money to keep up with the police when and if

they need it so for example if there’s a riot and the police don’t have enough supplies or funding

for good equipment well then, they wouldn’t be able to be that effective in the situation or crime

prevention and investigations. “How the money raised can be used varies from place to place.

Federal law forbids police departments from putting future forfeiture proceeds in their budget

plans. Some jurisdictions also ban their use for personnel costs, which comprise two-thirds of

police spending. Even so, they fund everything from ammunition for SWAT teams to vehicle

maintenance.”5th paragraph. Some people suggest that instead of defunding the police, they

should instead fix systemic problems like racism in the department and police brutality. Instead

of defunding the police, some cities and governors switched where the funds went, and different

parts of the police have funding instead of lowering the budget. Defunding the police was at its

highest point of popularity in 2020 after repeated incidents and killings of unfair discrimination

and racism against colored individuals. “The defunding movement emerged from the work of

Black-led activists to reassert democratic control over policing and shift resources to social

service agencies and other institutions serving community needs”- Defunding the Police

Agencies abstract, defunding the police started by black-led activists. All erupted after years and

countless incidents of police aggression towards colored people. But the breaking point that

started the movement along with riots asking for equality, was on the 21st of May a 46-year-old

African American man in Minneapolis after a convenience store employee called 911 and told
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police officers that George Floyd bought stuff with a fake 20$ bill when police officers arrive it

escalated very quickly and ended with 3 police officers on top of George Floyd on the floor

pinning him down until there was no sign of life. The next day, after the video of him getting

pinned went viral and everybody was talking about it, the police department fired the four police

officers, and on the 29th of May, the Hennepin County attorney told the 3 police officers they

were charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges against them.

“In the spring and summer of 2020, police in the United States killed Breonna Taylor, George

Floyd, and other unarmed people of color. In one of the largest social movements in the nation’s

history, thousands engaged in public protests and called to defund or abolish the police.”- Social

identity and support for defunding the police in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder Jackson,

Jonathan; Fine, Adam; Bradford, Ben; Trinkner Rick. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations:

abstract. This was the breaking point for many African Americans, causing them to riot and

retaliate against the government, especially against police officers, after all the years of

discrimination and hate crimes done against them. Some states spend way more money than

there are police officers or police stations in general. For example, this is a quote from a trusted

source “New Jersey (NJ) is home to more than 460 municipal police departments, including

close to 60 with fewer than 11 officers. In total, the state spends around $3 billion per year on

policing, 20% of the typical municipal budget.”- Defunding the police through shared service

agreements: The impact on cost savings, staffing, and public safety using a bias‐corrected

synthetic control analysis abstract. The whole concept and the idea and all the anger that has led

to its out bursting has grown over time from the beginning when these colored individuals felt

discriminated against. This all happened at the worst time possible as well with a deadly virus we

had little information on spreading rapidly (COVID-19). “Tourism is already suffering from
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COVID-19 restrictions, difficulties in travel, and media fear. Added to this is a new crime wave

often due to lack of police officers, police reticence in becoming involved due to a lack of

political support, fear of the media, and lack of security resources.” The impact of the War on

Police on the United States Tourism Industry tourism? Abstract. The rise of the phrase defunds

the police and the story behind it brought the attention of the public and everybody around the

U.S. All these cases called for a change in the justice system, especially with background checks

with police officers and other people that have to do with justice such as lawyers, judges, etc.

“Extensive research has explored public confidence in the criminal justice system and opinions

about punishment, but less research has explored attitudes about criminal justice errors, including

errors related to race and racism”- A color-blind Lens: public perceptions of systemic racism in

the criminal justice system abstract. People from many states don’t want the police defunded, but

they do what they want, something different to be done and for there to be more rules and

procedures to be in place for more of the other person's safety but also to keep both parties safe.

“ Racially-skewed policing not only has tangible consequences in terms of the disproportionate

use of force against persons of color, but it also contributes to a racial skew in public

perceptions: a poll commissioned by a presidential task force found that 83% of whites had a

"great deal" or "fair amount" of confidence in the police, while only 63% of Hispanics and 52%

of black people shared that view.10 This racial disparity has been reflected in polling data for

some time”- Good and Bad Ways to Address Police Violence abstract. There are many people

who say that there wouldn’t be so much crime if there were more money spent on communities

rather than on police departments. “Using data from rural communities in which ethnic

heterogeneity was induced through involuntary resettlement policies in the 1960s, we estimate

the exogenous effect of ethnic heterogeneity on individual participation in local organizations

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and households' social network capital.”- Are Ethnically Diverse Communities "Bad"

Communities? Abstract. The defunding of the movement and BLM movement cut the United

States in half, one half thinking it was good, the other half thinking it was bad, and this went all

the way up to Congress and affected us there, too. “Democrats who joined in reckless political

attacks on police need voters to forgive and forget the crime surge that followed. Don't count on

it, especially when it comes to candidates who continue to attract the enthusiastic support of

defenders.”- Democrats and Defunding Police; A U.S. Senate candidate tries to distance himself

from the radical groups endorsing him. Some people saw no point in defunding the police.

“Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman, in an interview published on

Tuesday, said the concept of defunding the police "was always absurd." During an interview

with newly launched news platform Semafor, Fetterman told political reporter David Weigel that

he did not believe in cutting back on law enforcement, arguing that having fewer police on the

streets would only lead to increased crime rates”- John Fetterman says defunding the police 'was

always absurd'.

Some people believe defunding the police and giving them less power will make us safer.

“We know the safest communities in America are places that don’t center the police.”-M4BL

This is one of many quotes said in an article written by BLM supporters expressing how it would

be better to defund the police and for them to lose power and support so it can make them feel

safer. “We must cut the astronomical amount of money that our governments spend on law

enforcement and give that money to more helpful services like job training, counseling, and

violence-prevention programs. Each year, state and local governments spend upward of $100

billion dollars on law enforcement—and that’s excluding billions more in federal grants and

resources.”-ACLU This is another quote expressing how people who support defunding law
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enforcement will make us safer, but these people added on how they could use the money the

law enforcement have and use it for job training and counseling etc.