It Is Time to Demobolize the ‘Defund the Police’ Movement

Imagine a world where everything is perfect. No one ever makes a mistake, there is no bias, and everyone gets along. Can’t think of such a planet? That is because it does not and cannot exist. It is called “Utopia”—Greek for “there ain’t no such place”—for a reason. It is impossible.

Nevertheless, we often expect—and demand—perfection from people in trying circumstances. Why did the infantry fail to take that ridge? Why was the ambulance 10 minutes late, resulting in a tragic death? Why did the police officer treat that person that way?

Coupled with this unreasonable request for no errors is the tendency to extrapolate from small data points. Videos are shot on cellphones and posted online without context and usually without exculpatory background information (i.e. a six-second outtake from a 45-minute event purports to be an accurate summary of the entire encounter).

Enter the “defund the police” movement. Gaining ground in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May 2020 while being arrested, the idea is that funding should be removed from law enforcement and put to “better use” in social services and education. This call was made with little to no understanding of police functions, nor the impact redirecting money from these agencies would have on crime rates (surprise, surprise, the rate went up in several jurisdictions).

The painting of police forces as some kind of evil entity was paired with the accusations of “systemic racism,” including of the RCMP here in Canada (even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau jumped on the bandwagon). The result was predictable: a drop in public confidence in law enforcement and a reluctance to apply for senior positions across the country (I heard this firsthand from a former chief of police).

What is the other side of the coin? Have protests for fewer police led to events that perhaps would have been prevented if the defund wave had not occurred? Probably, and here is a concrete example.

A month ago at H.B. Beal Secondary School in London, Ont. (I attended a high school two blocks away in the 1970s), a 15-year-old girl stabbed and seriously wounded a 19-year old woman. The Thames Valley District School Board, which runs schools in London, had paused a program whereby police officers were present in school, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement that burgeoned following the death of George Floyd and after critics said that “having uniformed police officers in classrooms and hallways made some students feel uncomfortable and even intimidated,” Postmedia reported. Discomfort led to suspension of the effort and may—and I stress may—have led to the conditions under which the stabbing took place.

In other words, a very emotional issue led to a decision to remove officers despite the complete absence of evidence pointing to the advantages and disadvantages of having a uniformed presence in school hallways. People extrapolated from an event far away and claimed that all police were the same (racist, biased, hateful, etc.). How and when has this approach ever helped?

I recall in the months after 9/11 that the mantra “all Muslims are terrorists” made the rounds. This false belief engendered terrible consequences with attacks against innocent people who had nothing in common with the hijackers outside their faith (and even there the Al Qaeda terrorists espouse a non-normative, hate-imbued interpretation of Islam.)

When will we learn? Do police forces have racists in their ranks? Most probably, as do military units, dentist offices, bakeries, dry cleaners, pickleball teams, and schools. Does this mean we label each of these institutions based on the characteristics of a tiny few? Not normally. So why have the police in particular been targeted by the cancel culture crowd?

I am a huge believer in the adage that you must walk in the shoes of someone before you have a right to chastise them. Do a “ride-along” with a police officer before you start slinging allegations of “systemic racism” and support “defund the police” movement. I guarantee you will learn something and walk away with a very different view of what these protectors go through on a daily basis. Oh, and remove the plank from your own eye first.