Stop saying "defund the police."

Poll after poll after poll is clear. The public supports funding social services that fill some roles police currently have, but they DON'T support defunding the police.

I don't care if you think those are the same thing. Voters don't.

There are neighborhoods in some cities where police are actually *underfunded* for their essential roles, and response times are low for people reporting crimes, accidents, etc.

Police nonresponse hurts POC as much as police brutality. Defund activists have no answer for this.

"BuT wE dOn'T lItErAlLy MeAn GeT rId Of ThE pOlIcE!"

Then find a new damn slogan, because at least some of the people chanting it with you do, in fact, literally mean that.

"Defunding" the police is an intellectual coward's way out for leftists who are "woke" to the point of being sleep-deprived.

They don't want to grapple with the reality of crime and how systemic racism has put POC in the way of social harm that ensures they *need* police.

I'm totally with you on decriminalizing a broad litany of social problems and diverting money to programs that address these noncriminally, from housing to drug treatment.

But not all crime is fixable this way. What social program is going to end DUI? Domestic violence? Rape?