A common theme from the BLM protests in the US is the idea of defunding police, as the police are heavily militarised and disproportionately killing black people. This idea may sound scary. The police are meant to protect us. How will they do this without money? The sad truth is that the police are not protecting us with the money they already have. Diversity training has not been effective. George Floyd was still murdered despite the Minneapolis PD being considered a model of progressive police reform. Focussing on police reform is important, but it distracts from the main issue and gives the police more influence and resources. The police already have too much power as they systemically harm and murder people with no consequences. They have been responsible for countless injuries and deaths at protests. Firing individual officers is not effective. The whole system needs to change. For example, look at the US, where budget cuts to psychiatric services led to the police taking on a larger part in handling mentally ill people. Around 10% of police encounters involve those who are mentally ill and around 25% of those who are shot by police in the US suffered from mental illness.
We need to reduce the insane power police have by reinvesting the $100 billion spent on the police in the US in other emergency response programs. Police officers should not respond to all emergencies, for example in cases concerning substance abuse, mental illness, domestic violence or homelessness. Healthcare workers or emergency response teams could take their place. This would mean if someone alerted 911 with an overdose, the police would not interfere, instead medics and mental health specialists would arrive. ‘This sounds crazy! We will be in a state of anarchy and lawlessness!’ Let’s take a look at countries that have already defunded, divested and decentralised their police.
Sweden: Mental health specialists have been deployed instead of police in situations that require them since 2015. Andreas Carlborg, managing director of the North Stockholm Psychiatry said “If a patient has an emergency psychiatric issue, it should really be dealt with by trained health professionals.” The Stockholm mental health ambulance is an emergency vehicle with 2 trained nurses and a driver. This also frees up police resources and allows officers to concentrate on the areas they are experts in.
Scotland: in 2005, Glasgow was the labelled the ‘murder capital of Europe’ but they established a violence reduction unit and had medical staff traveling to schools to share stories. Cafes called Street and Arrow were created where former offenders work to gain experience and access to mentors. Glasgow’s homicides declined significantly.
Finland: Homeless people are offered a permanent, stable home and access to additional support services (such as help with substance abuse). Since the project was launched in 2008, the amount of long-term homelessness fell by 42%. As a result, the cycle of former offenders struggling to get clean and find a home has ended. Their attitude towards criminal policy is represented by the motto: “Good social development policy is the best criminal policy.”
Policing should be viewed as a minor factor in the larger set of forces trying to combat social issues. Megan O’Neill (a community policing expert from the University of Dundee) told The Washington Post that there is still a cost to defunding the police. She said, ‘“What’s missing from current discussions is we can’t just take money from policing and put it somewhere else. The whole system needs to be very well-resourced; this kind of work is expensive. . . . There’s an argument that savings will come later, but it will have an upfront cost.” Even though it will come at a cost, I believe defunding the police is still necessary for social change.
Written by Anoushka Joshi
Media by Ben Hyland
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