I have a thought, and you may disagree with it (and I want to hear your criticisms), but hear me out: Police forces exist to fill power vacuums. When a police

I have a thought, and you may disagree with it (and I want to hear your criticisms), but hear me out: Police forces exist to fill power vacuums. When a police force is weak, other organizations step in to fill the gap. Private security companies are one side of this, organized crime is another. The reality is that somebody has to enforce order, and if it's not the police, then who is it? So all of these actions you see governments taking around police activities are all about keeping the Police in power so that nobody else takes up the reigns. And continuing on that, it's better for the police to be in power than whatever organization may replace it. So if we implement the policies you've suggested, we'll greatly weaken the police force's power. Losing 25% of their budget would create a power gap - that's 25% less officers on the street, and 25% more opportunities for criminals. Police make mistakes, sure, but do we want to replace them with private security? Do we want to replace them with the mob?