The amount of American support for police reform has dwindled in numbers since the nation witnessed massive protests due to the 2020 killing of George Floyd.
What We Know:
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- The phrase “Defund The Police”, has been criticized by many, and everyone has different perceptions of what it actually means. According to reports, Former President Barack Obama thinks the slogan is “snappy”, and that the phrase should be altered. Activist, Tamika Mallory, claims that there is a difference between defunding and abolishing police. In an interview, Mallory goes on to mention that there are cities across the country that have started defunding the police by taking initiatives such as getting rid of some of the militarized budgets.
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- Reports show that last year a number of cities have made steps toward redistributing funds that would have been used for some type of policing. One L.A. school district made the initiative to redistribute $25 million from their school police budget. In Austin, Texas, the city council voted in favor of cutting the police budget by $150 million.
- Regardless of some progressive figures’ view on the “Defund The Police”, the phrase is still not supported by a majority of Americans. A recent poll conducted by Ispo/USA Today shows that only 18% of Americans were in favor of the movement, while 58% were against it. The study went on to show that there was a larger percentage of White Americans and Republicans who were opposed to defunding the police compared to Black Americans and Democrats.
- One initiative that has also been mentioned is reallocating police funds to social services that aim at battling issues like mental health or offering aid to a houseless person. The poll statistics show that 43% of respondents are in favor of doing so, but 50% are against it.
It looks as if it is still unclear if America as a whole is sure of what it wants to do with police reform. The President of the United States is currently in the process of signing a bill into law that would address the situation.
