Defunding vs. Abolishment of Police: What Does it Mean?

Amidst the protests for justice to be served after the inhumane police brutality caught on video of George Floyd, citizens now more than ever are searching for drastic change in our justice department. Time and time again more innocent black lives are lost at the hands of police officers and there is no justice being served. Police have a duty to protect and serve their people yet senseless acts of inhumanity continue to happen and more people are beginning to ask if they are doing more harm than good. 

In the wake of the current political climate, the question has become how the justice system needs to improve. Many have brought up ideas of defunding police departments, police reform, and some just outright want to abolish it. All a step towards the right direction, but what do they actually mean and which seems to be the most effective long term solution?

Lets start with defunding police. The idea of defunding the police is to not completely remove their budget, but rather minimize our reliance on the police in our lives. Society’s overdependence on police to solve all our  problems such as “take accident reports, respond to people who have overdosed and arrest, rather than cite, people who might have intentionally or not passed a counterfeit $20 bill. We call police to roust homeless people from corners and doorsteps, resolve verbal squabbles between family members and strangers alike, and arrest children for behavior that once would have been handled as a school disciplinary issue.” We have given the police too many tasks to handle, and we are stretching them too thin and not giving them proper or specific training to handle more social problems. 

The abolishment of police is an idea that has been pioneered by Angela Davis since the 1970’s and it calls for completely removing the notion of policing individuals and focusing instead on betterment of a community.  Ben Kesslen from NBC News states “Abolitionists say their goals aren't just to close police departments, but rather to change the structure and conditions under which people who are currently criminalized live to make police more obsolete. If people had health care, housing and access to good jobs and education and community, there would be less crime and less need for police, they posit.” If our society shifts our attention to mental health and addressing the needs of the people, we can reduce our need for policing and minimize misconduct. 

The conversation between what is best has begun all over the country, including locally in Portland, Oregon. There has been huge push on social media for people to educate themselves on the budget for the Portland Police Bureau, which is currently being proposed to almost a 3rd of the cities total budget. Unite Oregon has created a template to send to local government officials where you can voice your support for the defunding of the bureau here: https://www.uniteoregon.org/defund_ppb_special_units.

Sources: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/07/defund-police-heres-what-that-really-means/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/calls-reform-defund-dismantle-abolish-police-explained-n1227676