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This blog is about the importance of having a police department to reduce crime.

==“Defund the Police”?==

There has been a call among some hard-left protesters that we need to “defund the police”¹. This call is quite controversial; the right wing is having a field day with this slogan²,³ and the left wing finds itself backpedaling from this position.⁴

I am no fan of “defund the police”, based on my experience living in a third world country without an effective police force.

One night, back when Marina was still with us and was my wife, before she got her visa to be able to enter the US, we were watching a movie, in an era when getting a movie to watch was an entire ritual of going to Blockbuster to get the movie to rent, making the movie play on our old half-broken DVD player, and taking the movie back to Blockbuster after watching it. As we were watching the movie, suddenly we heard a very loud sound, like someone slamming a metal wall with a battering ram. After about a minute of this horrible sound, we then heard gun shots in the street in front of our house. Fortunately, whoever they were, they were not interested in our place that evening, and the sounds soon subsided.

One of the reasons I moved back to the US is because I like living in a country with an effective police force, allowing me to be in a neighborhood where I can take a walk at night without worrying that someone will assault me.

Yes, the George Floyd protests have brought to light many much needed police reforms.⁵ But we do not need to throw out the baby with the bathwater; we can reduce police brutality without having to compromise public safety.

This is not the only silly slogan which does not stand up to close scrutiny. The “Believe all women” slogan was also problematic.⁶

Fortunately, here in San Diego, the city council will have none of this “defund the police” nonsense.⁷

Footnotes

1. “When protesters demand ‘defund the police’ at George Floyd demonstrations, what does it mean?” by Michael Balsamo

2. “Andrew McCarthy: Defund the police? Here's what Dems, BLM ignoring about crime” by Andrew McCarthy posted over at Fox News.

3. “Trump seeks to tie Biden to ‘defund the police’ demands even though former vice president rejects idea” by Courtney Subramanian and David Jackson, published by USA Today

4. “Activists’ call to ‘defund the police’ is a confusing message that could backfire” by Eric Zorn, published by the Chicago Tribune

5. “Opinion: Good Riddance to One of America’s Strongest Police Secrecy Laws” by Mara Gay, published in The New York Times opinion section.

6. “Opinion: ‘Believe All Women’ Is a Right-Wing Trap” by Susan Faludi, published in The New York Times opinion section.

7. “San Diego defies calls to ‘defund the police,’ but it ‘won’t be business as usual’ in California’s second largest city” Jessica Flores, published by USA Today

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