'Defund the police' in action: How four Bay Area cities are (or aren't) reforming their police

It’s been scrawled across the pavement in front of government buildings in bright yellow paint, etched into cardboard signs and poster boards as a rallying cry during protests and addressed as a possibility in countless city council meetings.

While cities across the country continue to reel in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, some city officials, politicians and activists are taking action, working on measures aimed to divert funding away from what they view as bloated police budgets, and toward community-based organizations.

The objective, commonly summed up with the controversial phrase, has both ardent fans and detractors here in California. Yet, four of the biggest cities in the Bay Area — San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and San Jose — are all heeding calls to defund in different ways.

My favorite comment:

“Here is something to ponder. Tbe average law abiding citizen probably has a half dozen interactions with police over a period of decades. Maybe a traffic ticket, auto burglaries, etc. A very small percentage of the population has very regular interaction with police. Many of these folks are unwilling, or unable to go through their everyday aspects of life without government (usually police by default) guidance. This is what happens when people with absolutely no clue about reality scream for change.”

Here’s how they plan to address the future of public safety.

What grandiose visions of their significance these little people entertain.

At most, they can "plan to address the future of public safety" in their own jurisdictions and municipalities.

Californians just take it for granted that the rest of America will follow them down into whatever loonie-bin they decide to next slide into. Dream on.

“Formerly incarcerated individuals, survivors of police violence and their families, as well as others affected by violent crime will also represent the board. “

The main part of all these plans seems to be take the money and allocate it to ‘community nonprofits’ and then restrict who is employed and served by these nonprofits. The same nonprofits (and some new ones to be created to be sure) that have been unaccountable moneypits for decades with little legal oversight and little to show for it.

Every city has for decades allocated millions to the (minority) ‘community’ helping each other police themselves, as we’ve been told only they could understand and help the homeless, the addicts, the violent and ‘the mentally ill’. But all those elements are still there. And the numbers are growing. Just like Head Start, social engineering programs are ineffective where there is no accountability or transparency and when they are administered selectively. All that has ever been true is fundraising and salaries rely heavily on claims of ever-increasing numbers of ‘served’ not solved.

I read an article the other day; Seattle spent over $1B just on the homeless problem in just one year. That’s $100K for homeless every man, woman and child in the entire county. In the meantime, crime in the city has rocketed to over twice that of Los Angeles. And don’t even get me started on the tens of billions LA has thrown out the ‘community services’ window. The non profits need more free money. Yet they want it out of the policing budget. Seems backwards to me. I wonder how it is with other cities?

https://www.city-journal.org/seattle-homelessness

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