Defunding Police Departments

[TC Talks]

As was mentioned in a couple of other threads, some communities are looking at restructuring police departments and eliminating funding for tactical initiatives. In general I am supportive of unions but it seems in this case but unions are being run by people who are obstructing solutions to some of the very problems we face. Some cities face eliminating one department and creating a second department that does a better job of addressing the needs of the citizens.

Over the past five years, as demands for reform have mounted in the aftermath of police violence in cities like Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore and now Minneapolis, police unions have emerged as one of the most significant roadblocks to change. The greater the political pressure for reform, the more defiant the unions often are in resisting it — with few city officials, including liberal leaders, able to overcome their opposition.

They aggressively protect the rights of members accused of misconduct, often in arbitration hearings that they have battled to keep behind closed doors. And they have also been remarkably effective at fending off broader change, using their political clout and influence to derail efforts to increase accountability.

While rates of union membership have dropped by half nationally since the early 1980s, to 10 percent, higher membership rates among police unions give them resources they can spend on campaigns and litigation to block reform. A single New York City police union has spent more than $1 million on state and local races since 2014.

In St. Louis, when Kim Gardner was elected the top prosecutor four years ago, she set out to rein in the city’s high rate of police violence. But after she proposed a unit within the prosecutor’s office that would independently investigate misconduct, she ran into the powerful local police union.

The union pressured lawmakers to set aside the proposal, which many supported but then never brought to a vote. Around the same time, a lawyer for the union waged a legal fight to limit the ability of the prosecutor’s office to investigate police misconduct. The following year, a leader of the union said Ms. Gardner should be removed “by force or by choice.”

[MWmetalhead]

Please credit the publication in which the above article appears; thank you.

[km1125]

I'm not a big supporter of unions in general or police unions in particular, but nothing you quoted in that article is objectionable to me. Unions have a place and a purpose. Some do it well and some don't.

[TC Talks]

Please credit the publication in which the above article appears; thank you.

Today's NY Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/p ... kroll.html

[Rate This]

Please credit the publication in which the above article appears; thank you.

Today's NY Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/p ... kroll.html

Try to do this going forward if you could.

[Matt]

Please credit the publication in which the above article appears; thank you.

Today's NY Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/p ... kroll.html

Try to do this going forward if you could.

I can't put into words how much I appreciate this comment.

[Bryce]

Did you ever think about the concept of Criminal Reform?

[TC Talks]

Did you ever think about the concept of Criminal Reform?

we would have to prosecute all the police first. It's easier just to dismantle the system.

[bmw]

It's easier just to dismantle the system.

Glad you finally came out and admitted that you're an anarchist whackjob.

[TC Talks]

Really? I can respond with photos how wrong you are all day. The police are civil servants, many no longer choose to follow protcols. Their unions advocate for no accountability and teach violence to their members.

We are using body armor and guns to resolve mental illness and domestic concerns in this country. Add the subtext of white supremacy within the ranks which has been proven over and over and you have an organization with lots of unresolved problems.

I think you are confused about who is the threat in urban settings. In our county, the officer who oversaw the jail was having sexual relationships with inmates and was never charged but it took quite a fight to get him fired instead just reassigned. This kind of happenings occur everywhere. Sometimes starting over is the best choice. Ask GM, or any company that has gone through a major restructuring.

[TC Talks]

Minneapolis will vote to disband the police department as it is structured...

MINNEAPOLIS — A veto-proof majority of Minneapolis City Council members announced during a rally at Powderhorn Sunday that they are planning to dismantle the police department.

City Council members said they will invest in community-led safety initiatives instead of the police department.

"Our commitment is to end our city’s toxic relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department, to end policing as we know it, and to re-create systems of public safety that actually keep us safe," Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender said at Sunday’s community meeting.

https://www.kare11.com/mobile/article/n ... 5aafba95cd

[TC Talks]

More love from Police Unions... and it seems the have been chummy with Trump.

John McNesby, the president of a Philadelphia police union, called Black Lives Matter protestors “a pack of rabid animals” and “a racist hate [group] determined to to instigate violence.” He made these remarks at a “Back the Blue” rally held on Thursday night to support the police force in response to a Black Lives Matter protest outside the house of Ryan Pownall, the police officer who shot and killed David Jones at a traffic stop in June.

https://www.complex.com/life/2017/09/ph ... hate-group

Philly FOP boss visits President Trump at White House to criticize DA Larry Krasner
by Chris Palmer, Updated: December 6, 2019 - 5:07 PM
Philly FOP boss visits President Trump at White House to criticize DA Larry Krasner
CHARLES FOX / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
John McNesby, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, is shown on Sept. 4, 2019.
John McNesby, president of Philadelphia’s police union, found a new venue Friday to criticize District Attorney Larry Krasner: the White House.

McNesby was among a group of municipal police union officials nationwide who met with President Donald Trump to condemn prosecutors like Krasner, who have taken office across the country pledging to make the criminal justice system less punitive.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/john-mcne ... 91206.html

[TC Talks]

Now the Mayor of New York is going to start defunding the NYC Police....

How much of an archaist am I today BMW?

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday pledged for the first time to cut the city’s police funding, following 10 nights of mass protests against police violence and mounting demands that he overhaul a department whose tactics have caused widespread consternation.

The mayor on Sunday declined to say precisely how much funding he planned to divert to social services from the New York Police Department, which has an annual budget of $6 billion, representing more than 6 percent of Mr. de Blasio’s proposed $90 billion budget.

Mr. de Blasio said the details would be worked out with the City Council in advance of the July 1 budget deadline.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/nyre ... nding.html

[audiophile]

Please credit the publication in which the above article appears; thank you.

Today's NY Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/p ... kroll.html

Try to do this going forward if you could.

Agree and Agree.

[zzand]

Welcome to short attention span theater. First Russian meddling, then impeachment, then COVID-19 will kill us all, then the riots and now defund the police, what is next? Hell they don't even know. It like let's just keeping throwing shit at the wall, eventually something will stick.