"Defund": Words Matter
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“Defund the police!”
It’s the current sentiment and trending hashtag spurring many who are now protesting police violence.
Stop it. It’s stupid—and self-defeating.
No matter what numbers you put behind it—a 20% cut?; 60 percent?; “just tear the whole thing down and start over?”—it’s wrong. Because the problem is how police act, not how many of them there are, or how much they’re paid. Does anyone think a cop making half his current salary will necessarily change views on policing minority communities?
Here are a couple other equally obvious points:
Local police forces are funded on the local level. Thus, the only truly systemic change would need to come from the federal level. In other words, your town might change; but the neighboring one you drive through every day might not. What have we solved?
In terms of manpower, a de facto “defunding” is already happening. Two thirds of all local departments report a decline in applicants. Across the country, in the most recent decade the number of police officers per capita has dropped more than 10%.
Would anyone be happy with a slower police response when someone is trying to break into your home?
Worst of all is the fantasy that subtracted money from police budgets would be better spent on social programs (health, housing, employment, etc.) . OF COURSE there is a need for wiser spending to help citizens—but many people in many cities have soured on the idea of their city council doing much good, no matter how much money is at their disposal. (Homelessness is a common complaint here.) And in any case, it’s unclear whether the money saved would be enough to affect much lasting change.
More to the point, if you want to generate meaningful dollars, there’s a much better place to look—the national defense budget. Do you know how much the Defense Department spends with its astoundingly bloated budget? Of course you don’t. Because nobody does. Congress tried for years to get a handle on it, using outside auditors—then gave up in exasperation. (Full details are in our article, “Cut the Military Budget—in Half”)
To put a finer point on it, Trump just raised the defense budget by more than Russia spends on its military in a single year—financially, we added Russia’s military to the war capacity we already have.
Finally, the term “defund” can and will be used by Trump to show uncommitted voters that protesters (in his telling, “liberals”) don’t really care about police departments or protecting anyone’s private property. In a moment when Trump has done virtually everything wrong in response to the Floyd murder, don’t give him the gift of changing the debate to a battleground where he can sound almost sensible.
Some supporters claim that people are just misunderstanding; that “defund” is really a catch-all that addresses tactics more than budgets. What we need is a sea change in policing culture.
OK, fine. Then say that.
Since "defund" is the wrong word...find a better one.
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