The more I hear people saying "defund the police" the more I think Democrats are approaching this from a completely wrong angle and it could be an open window to support increasing levels of crime and corruption. This is a VERY BAD tactic. You have Congresswomen Omar stating Minneapolis police department needs to be disbanded. The city council of Minneapolis has voted to disband the police department. This is a REAL thing that is being discussed. No real option for how citizens would be kept safe, only plans to "rethink" options for dealing with criminals in the moment of commission of crime.

And where does the idea of defunding come from? I would really like to know the answer to that question. I would imagine it goes back to demonizing police. Yes, police can do very bad things and be very bad people. But the reality is without law enforcement the quality of life disintegrates for all. I listened to a pretty good description today of police unions and various policies that are put in place to protect officers from scrutiny and lawsuits. It is something that needs to change. This is an important part of effective reform. Talk of defunding is NOT where conversation needs to be, but yet it IS. We have to ask ourselves WHY is that? Do the majority of constituents think this is a viable solution? If not, why is this conversation being had?

I talked with a young man the other day who plans on becoming a police officer. He is not an adult yet, but the maturity and understanding of the high level of responsibility that comes with police work was very impressive. It was very obvious when he spoke of the Floyd case and officers' response, that his approach was the correct one. He is another example of a (future) good police officer. They are certainly there. Good police do exist and they are the majority.

Decades of human rights abuse, in particular, people of color, unreported and unpunished brutality and corruption, fired and hired, fired and hired, fired and hired, rampant and unreported domestic violence by officers......and on and on.

From your profile pic, you appear White. Is it possible you are not able to comprehend what it has meant to be Black in America? I have a family member who was an officer, he was corrupt, mean, and hated Blacks. Two friends are married to officers. Their conversations at parties and holidays are peppered with the N word. I do not trust law enforcement. There is overwhelming evidence to support that.

[michaelshermer.com]

Other than traffic stops I can only think of 2 clear examples of police in my direct experience, both at the hospital I used to work at.

The first a man had checked himself in for mental health concerns. He didn't want to give up his phone, which was policy. The security guard got in his face about it then brought out the straps to tie him down and brought in 6 officers to assist and get rid of his friend. The man was not violent. It was disgusting.

In the other case one of the elderly man from the nursing home got mad and left the property. The police were called to bring him bac. He was slammed don on the cement and his arms pulled tightly in cuffs. He was confused and disabled enough that he could not walk without a Walker. This was completely unnecessary.

And these people were white. I do believe in science and numbers and have no doubt these types of things happen even more in communities of color.

And we could have a different entity altogether hand out traffic tickets.

What also should go without saying is that the ones who are found to be blatantly abusing their power should face appropriate consequences and be removed, not allowed to rack up decades of excessive force complaints and continue to remain on the force due to an enabling system that perpetuates the behavior. Fuck that. If I don't use appropriate judgment in my high stress job, it could cost lives. I would not expect a hospital to allow me to hurt people over and over again and turn a blind eye. You cannot take a life and get off with a slap on the wrist (over and over and over again) without expecting people to eventually lose their shit about it. So, no, not all cops are bad or use excessive force. But there's a very obvious problem within the system and something more needs to be done to weed out the rotten ones before the whole damn lot gets infested.