Don’t Defund, Reform!!
By: Chuck Prince
Tags: Defundthepolice, Policing, Criminal Justice Reform, Civil Rights, Police Reform

Don’t Defund, Reform!!

The aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin has seen massive protests, speeches, and a coming together of all strata of our society that few have ever witnessed. The need and the motivation for improving the system has never been stronger; however, the calls for reform have been hampered by extreme voices demanding the defunding of the police, which we are assured is really the outright abolition of the police¹. While I understand and have a measure of sympathy for the sentiments, they are doomed to failure and will result in no reform.

Police do not just drive around and shoot people or jam people up. They perform several vital functions in the modern criminal justice system ranging from education, security, detecting and investigating crime, enforcing laws, arresting suspects, and maintaining jails and detainment centers². Many of the roles of police, if done by another agency would see that agency slowly transform into something that looks very much like the police department of today, with many of the same problems, perhaps more difficult to change.

From what I can tell, the defund the police movement wants to trade in cops for a crisis team of health care and social workers: a methodology which I think is seriously flawed. They are not trained in any investigative or defensive techniques, nor are they trained in how to protect the rights of the accused; because at praxis, police are Peace Officers and anyone seeking to fill that role in any capacity must fulfill that function.

What mechanisms will the Crisis Team use to enforce the law? While I have heard the term “de-escalation” bandied about quite a lot, and while that might work during a domestic disturbance, it certainly is not something that will work for a domestic violence offender, aggravated robbery suspect, or rapist. Moreover, no matter what the public perception of them in the beginning, they will be agents of the state and subject to all the same laws, precedents, and policies that the police are subject to and their training will have to be greatly expanded to accommodate those realities³.

For instance, who is the victim or suspect talking to? Are they talking with a health care worker, whose training and legal precedent are skewed toward confidentiality, or are they speaking with an agent of the state and what they say will be used against them? What is going to happen when they arrive to a domestic violence call and one party is severely abused? De-escalation only goes so far when the purpose of the call is to escalate the situation to an arrest and a criminal case.

Photo by Felix Koutchinski on Unsplash

Policing requires a specialized education that is a fusion of law, criminology, psychology, security, emergency management, defensive tactics, firearms, and a host of other subjects. We need to move past the idea of the perfect cop. Additional training will not check all abuses, nor will it stop all tragedies. We need to construct the Constitution, Federal and State law, local policing policies and organization to protect the civil liberties of the citizen and then when there are infractions the police must be held accountable.

James Madison perfectly described our plight and the purpose of our system of government:

The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions⁴.

A better framework for reform are the strategies I discussed in a previous article. Briefly they are constitutional amendments that would outlaw no knock warrants and civil forfeiture and limit most prison sentences. The questioning of minors by police without legal counsel would be curtailed, and law enforcement agents would be required to advise a suspect of a crime that they are a suspect and require the reading of rights before questioning or arrest. The article further advises that a national commission on civilian police contacts should be convened and establish guidelines for the police contact, outlining the rights and obligation of the civilian and the powers of the officer and give a few text book style examples so that all parties are aware of how to conduct themselves in a stop.

I agree that Constitutional amendments are a tall order, but what choice do we have? Defunding the police isn’t permanent. Banning choke-holds isn’t either. None of the solutions I hear coming from activists or legislators are. Supporting these efforts need not derail other reform policies and strategies, but they are durable and substantial changes that will save lives, unlike so many other feel good measures and calls for more training being proposed.

Photo by Michael on Unsplash

For too long we have been blindly expanding the role of police. Movie after movie and show after show have bankrupted the public’s understanding of the justice system, the work, and the role of police in that system and in our society. This leads to dangerous misunderstandings and miscommunications during a police contact.

Calls to defund or abolish the police miss the very real contributions that have been made by them in the protection of our rights, the security of our communities, and the furtherance of our values. The need for reform is real, but so is the need for an organization that objectively maintains order, upholds the law, and investigates crimes.

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