Since the death of George Floyd on May 25, there has been an increasing outcry for police abolition and to defund the police. Despite the popularity, politicians and the populace are still not sure what this means, and what it could mean for the future of law enforcement.
Police abolition and defunding are two very different things. Police abolition means getting rid of the police force entirely. This viewpoint has its roots in W.E.B. DuBois’s book Black Reconstruction, where he called for the dismantling of institutions-like prisons, which white people had created to control and suppress Black people.
Angela Davis and Ruth Wilson Gilmore are two modern thinkers who have been central in pushing prison abolition, the framework from which police abolition has spawned. It was not until Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, Minn. that people began to collectively push past prison abolition to police abolition.
Due to the significant changes in policy and social structure necessary for police abolition, in practice, it would take years to enforce. Some are more in favor of a compromised police abolition where police departments completely disband and rebuild in a way which might reform the departments for the better.
Others have been more in favor of defunding the police. “Defund the police” means reallocating or redirecting funding away from the police department to other government agencies funded by the local municipality,” writes Rashawn Ray, reporting for the Brookings Institution.
Minneapolis city council initially claimed they would “end policing as we know it,” taking one of the boldest stances of any United States city. Months later, the plan fell apart due to disagreement and misunderstanding within the city government. There was never clarity around the language, and whether the city meant to abolish the police entirely or simply redirect funds was unclear. Recently, the city clarified that the amendment to disband the police department will not appear on the November ballot, according to the New York Times.
Most cities and governments have stuck with budget cuts and redirecting funds. Cities like Austin, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, and others have all been reinvesting money from their cuts into social programs like food access, mental health clinics, education services and other civil services.
Some think these cuts may be consequences of COVID-19 as well as the protests throughout the spring and summer. The Associated Press reports that the cuts local governments are moderate in comparison to their budget and may just be the result of a decreasing cash flow coming from the government, due to the impact of the pandemic.
Amidst such outcry and change, people are looking to other countries to compare and observe different ways of implementing law enforcement. The Guardian notes how the United States spends significantly more on public safety programs than social services, especially when compared to other countries. Some have chosen to take this as an explanation for the incarceration rates and disproportionate number of deaths at the hands of the police.
At a local level, Harrisonburg may see some changes due to a new state budget. In late September, the Virginia House of Delegates approved a new budget, allotting $28.4 million for police reforms, roughly one-tenth of the state’s police budget. The spending plan includes new legislation creating an easier officer decertification process and an alert system to send mental health professionals along with police on certain calls.
For Further Reading:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/12/abolish-defund-police-explainer-316185
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/05/defunding-the-police-us-what-does-it-mean
https://www.whsv.com/2020/09/30/virginia-house-approves-budget-focused-on-police-reforms/
