From Defund the Police to Re-fund the Police

The defund the police movement is a complete disaster and yet Democrat leaders still openly support it — much to the detriment of millions of Americans living in cities that need a stronger police presence to keep them safe and secure. 

 

Liberals would have you to believe that by defunding the police, communities would be better served. In reality just the opposite would happen, and it already has. For example, the city of Oakland, CA has seen a dramatic 215% increase in crime violence since last year, when the city cut police funding. Recently, the Oakland Police Chief reported “41 homicides compared 13 homicides at the same time last year (215% increase), 159 shootings compared to 79 at the same time last year (101% increase), 149 car jackings compared to 57 at the same time last year (161% increase), and 340 robberies compared to 226 at the same time last year (50% increase).”

 

So, what does Oakland do ​after cutting budgets for police and fire? They moved to reverse course and refund police and fire because defunding them did not work. You can’t reimagine how to keep children and parents safe in their homes by gutting the body charged with protecting and serving in that community. Oakland became a warzone, and the officials were forced to refund to the tune of $10 million. That was the right thing to do. 

 

The City of Los Angeles is making similar moves in response to  ​their own foolish decision to defund their police department.​After ignorantly cutting $150 million from the budget for police to do their job, they too saw a spike in crime and are now refunding the police by increasing their budget by $36 million

 

In case you thought it was just a California issue, New York City also got on the defund the police bandwagon, cutting $1 billion from the New York Police Department — and now the wheels are falling off. In addition to an increase in violence and crime, and a growing anti-police sentiment, the city is having a serious problem with recruitment coupled with a 75% spike in officers retiring. 

 

What boggles the mind is that Democrats still think this policy position is a good one even when the overwhelming majority of Americans are rejecting it. A recent USA Today poll indicated that only 18% supported defunding the police. Interestingly enough, last summer Gallup released the news that their own survey showed Black Americans wanted to retain or have an increased police presence in their local communities across the country. Why? Because we want the same thing as every other American living in Raleigh or Riverside — we all want to feel and be safe.     

 

The anti-police movement coupled with the idea of defunding the police is a losing proposition for the Democrats and a dangerous idea for all Americans. Democrats are tone deaf and missing the moment. You can support reforms and police officers. Remember it was the Democrat leaders in the Senate that purposely used a technique they now consider racist, known as the filibuster to kill the JUSTICE ACT introduced by the U.S. Senate’s only Black Senator, Tim Scott. 

 

To add fuel to the fire we have seen reckless rhetoric from Democrats like Rep. Rashida Tlaib who said, “No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.” Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when asked if Rep. Waters needed to apologize for encouraging protestors and rioters in Minneapolis to “stay on the streets” and “get more confrontational,” she said “no she doesn’t.”  Former Democrat Rep. Joe Kennedy agreed with Rep. Maxine Waters’ anti-police declarations saying, ”It’s critically important to keep the momentum going,” and DCCC Chair Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney refused to call out his Democrat colleagues who still ignorantly support defunding our police. 

 

Politically speaking it is a losing issue for the left. The Hill reported, “Democrats lost seats in the House and lost Senate races in states where they thought they had a chance, including North Carolina and Montana. At least some officials blame those losses on the defund the police debate.” 

 

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) allegedly told his Democrat caucus members on a conference call that “if we are going to run on Medicare for All, defund the police, socialized medicine, we’re not going to win.” Democrat Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger was on the same call and was even more direct saying, “No one should say ‘defund the police’ ever again…”

 

Now we have college students buying into defunding the diverse group of men and women who serve as police officers with one actually publishing an op-ed entitled “we need to defund the police.” The student writes that, “The only solution is to stop it in its tracks, which means defunding and eventually abolishing the police as we know it… Instead of investing another $300 million into America’s police, as Biden suggests, we need to defund our domestic pseudo-military.”

 

All told, defunding the police has been a failure, it does not work, it is dangerous, and America’s families are sadly bearing the brunt of the consequences. Now, Democrats are frantically trying to re-fund the police to stop the increased and senseless violence and crime being inflicted on our must vulnerable communities. We deserve better leadership from the elected Democrats in control of the White House, U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

 

Re-funding the police, respecting the police and reforming certain aspects of policing are good things. Above all else, these radical Democrat leaders should stop their anti-police hating movement and follow what Tyler Perry said at the Oscars: “…My mother taught me to refuse hate. She taught me to refuse blanket judgment, and in this time, and with all of the Internet and social media and algorithms and everything that wants us to think a certain way, the 24-hour news cycle, it is my hope that all of us, we teach our kids and I want to remember, just refuse hate… I refuse to hate someone because they are a police officer…”

 

Paris Dennard is the National Spokesperson and Director of Black Media Affairs for the Republican National Committee (RNC). Follow him on Twitter: @PARISDENNARD.