Beyond being a terrible slogan, "defund the police" doesn't seem like a good idea on the merits. We need to figure out how to improve cops' behavior. That doesn't mean the number of cops or their pay should go down.
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We should make dramatic changes to how police forces run, including stricter rules against misconduct and reforms to make it easier to fire cops who break the rules. In some cities this might mean firing a large fraction of current cops.
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But if anything we should probably be spending more on police forces. Higher police pay would give cities a better pool of candidates and let them be pickier about who they hire. Plus we could devote more resources to oversight, training, and discipline.
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Liberals' current attitude toward the police reminds me of conservatives' attitudes toward a lot of other parts of government. If you think a government agency isn't working well, it's natural to want to cut its budget. But often that just makes it even more dysfunctional.
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The better approach is to actually figure out what's not working. Sometimes you can identify cases of waste or inefficiency and save taxpayers money. Other times, important functions are being under-funded and you need to spend more to fix it.
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One specific reform that I think could do a lot of good would be to disarm most cops, most of the time. Critics are right that a lot of what cops do doesn't require the use of force and could be done without a gun.
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Unarmed social workers walking a beat could establish positive relationships as well, probably better than cops can.
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If more police means less crime, then why aren’t affluent, crime-free areas filled with police, and why do areas with more police generally have more crimes?
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The "more police, less crime" mantra is for areas that were previously high crime. Areas that are low crime to begin with obviously don't need as many cops.
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Tim and Matt get ready. You cancellation from the mob is coming in 3...2...1...
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Yep, if your metro spent 90% of its budget on cops instead of 75%, crime rates would go down. Oh, I'm hearing some about quota's, broken windows and NYPD police strikes?
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