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It's because of what "police" means in the US compared to other countries. In the US, police are the backstop for every social ill and woe. Homeless and housing
by jorblumesea 6y ago
It's because of what "police" means in the US compared to other countries. In the US, police are the backstop for every social ill and woe. Homeless and housing problems? Police. Mental illness? Police. Communities in poverty? Police.
So the budget is huge because the scope of their organization is huge. They are a band-aid for a myriad of political failures.
One of the big ideas of the "defund" movement isn't to pocket the money but direct those funding streams into other places. For example, instead of having police tackle homelessness, why shouldn't some of that budget go to affordable housing?
- djsumdog 6y agoExcept that there's a complex system or corruption that got things into that state. Moving money from the police will probably not be spent on anything beneficial, but instead into what ever political agenda comes up next.
- aspenmayer 6y agoI'd rather have it earmarked for something else then. The police can apply for more funding if and when they can justify it with facts and figures instead of feels over reals.
- space_fountain 6y agoI mean but they have the money now, they applied for it surely. They must have convinced a city council at least that it was justified. I'm certainly seeing a lot of feels in this thread.
- rejberg 6y agoIf, as you're saying, a complex system of corruption has affected where public money is spent, isn't that actually a great reason to question the legitimacy of police budgets and consider pushing for that money to be spent elsewhere?