I've posted this before but it seems like it could be helpful here. The "Defunding the Police" started in Camden, New Jersey.
Defunding the police is not cutting their budget, it's rebuilding a police force for the ground up. Budget cuts happen all the time. The Portland Police have had their budget cut in certain areas but still had their overall budgets increased. See the mounted horse patrol as an example. That program was cut from the budget but the overall budget was increased. So cutting a program(s) or a department is not defunding the police.
Anyway, here is a really good interview/conversation between the state Attorney General and the Police Chief who originally "defunded" and then rebuilt the Camden police department.
https://cafe.com/stay-tuned/the-camden-policing-model-with-anne-milgram-scott-thomson/
Now in posting this I am not advocating defunding the Portland Police. I'm just providing real-world information on what exactly defunding the police is, why it happened in one major city and the problems and successes that came with it. It really is worth listening to because I think it will help all of us in this thread of having a concern about how law enforcement operates and how we can make it better.
It's not a long interview/conversation but it's worth listening to.
"In this special episode of Stay Tuned, “The Camden Policing Model,” former New Jersey Attorney General and CAFE Insider co-host Anne Milgram interviews former Camden, NJ Police Chief Scott Thomson, whose reimagining of law enforcement in Camden has become a national model for police reform. Anne and Chief Thomson discuss their extensive collaboration in implementing Camden’s reforms, the challenges of state-level political ecosystems, and the lessons that they take as we work to re-envision policing across the country."
https://cafe.com/stay-tuned/the-camden-policing-model-with-anne-milgram-scott-thomson/
