Working together works better
The “defund the police” movement says they don’t really want to eliminate the police departments but instead fund other methods of helping the community such as social workers, drug and alcohol treatments and other services that they believe will reduce crime.
These seem to be good ideas that will make our community safer and help people out of poverty and crime, so then why aren’t we already doing them? I don’t think the average cop on the street wants to deal with mental illness, chemical addictions etc. What’s stopping city government from providing social services now, why is it necessary to take funds from the police department to afford to do the right thing? A safe environment to raise your family or run your business is key to defeat poverty and the police play a key role in keeping the town safe.
Good policing and good social programs aren’t mutually exclusive in fact they complement each other.
Larry Medin
Spokane