Sure: literally zero people who want to defund the police think that we should just snap our fingers tomorrow and fire every cop. The article explains this, but

Sure: literally zero people who want to defund the police think that we should just snap our fingers tomorrow and fire every cop. The article explains this, but if HN commenters have the unfortunate habit of responding to the title rather than the contents. Quoting an open letter [0] that's uncontroversial in 'defund the police' circles: > Black communities are living in persistent fear of being killed by state authorities like police, immigration agents or even white vigilantes who are emboldened by state actors. According to the Urban Institute, in 1977, state and local governments spent $60 billion on police and corrections . In 2017, they spent $194 billion. A 220 percent increase. Despite continued profiling, harassment, terror and killing of Black communities, local and federal decision-makers continue to invest in the police, which leaves Black people vulnerable and our communities no safer. >Where could that money go? It could go towards building healthy communities, to the health of our elders and children,to neighborhood infrastructure, to education, to childcare, to support a vibrant Black future. The possibilities are endless. >We join in solidarity with the freedom fighters in Minneapolis, Louisville, and across the United States. And we call for the end to police terror. >JOIN US IN DEMANDING YOUR LOCAL OFFICIALS TAKE THE PLEDGE TO: > 1. Vote no on all increases to police budgets > 2. Vote yes to decrease police spending and budgets > 3. Vote yes to increase spending on Health care, education and community programs that keep us safe. Nobody wants a situation where law enforcement magically disappears at midnight and we devolve into 'the purge'. We want to take the money spent on violence and spend it on solving problems instead of criminalizing symptoms. There's a nice Q&A by the author of The End of Policing [1] if you want to a more casual overview, although the ebook [2] is currently free. [0]: https://www.defendingblacklives.org/defund-police-sign-on/ https://www.defendingblacklives.org/defund-police-sign-on/ [1]: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/06/03/457251670/how-much-do-we-need-the-police https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/06/03/457251670... [2]: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2426-the-end-of-policing https://www.versobooks.com/books/2426-the-end-of-policing