The police is a crucial institution developed and funded by the government to protect the citizens and advocate justice. However, the latest conflicts between officers and communities, the formers’ inefficiency in accidents such as school shootings, and bribery scandals enabled the administration and taxpayers to revise the departments’ authority. Consequently, cities nationwide initiated police defunding and downsizing of their systems to allow other specialists to involve and reduce violence (Levin, 2021). In my opinion, the practice is helpful because it diversifies the factors that influence decision-making and provide more space for civil initiatives to address social issues that cause crimes. This paper aims to discuss the impact of police defunding on the criminal justice system and local communities.
Police defunding is based on a drastic reduction of governmental budgets, resulting in massive employee and equipment cuts in departments and operations revision. Cobbina-Dungy and Jones-Brown (2021) state the disadvantage of “contemporary “warrior-style” police training that normalizes the expectation of unquestioned compliance with police directives and authorizes police to use physical force in its absence” (p. 1). If police departments are defunded, the impact on the criminal justice system will be positive because law enforcement will need to change its strategies toward surveillance and punishment.
Another significant benefit of police defunding is that the budgets might be used for assisting local communities in developing initiatives to address local problems. For instance, the regions with high poverty rates may receive additional finances to help generate more jobs or create educational programs to help citizens and their children. Improving the quality of life and employing people reduces crime rates more efficiently than police surveillance (Eaglin, 2021). Furthermore, downsized departments might hire civil specialists to improve justice and provide additional workplaces.
In my opinion, American cities will benefit from police defunding because crime and violence mostly occur due to social problems. Investing taxpayers’ money to address them and create solutions such as job opportunities rather than assigning more officers would be more efficient in the long-term perspective. Downsized police departments would become less violent with the criminals because more civil assistance would be involved, creating a more objective and balanced justice system.
References
Cobbina-Dungy, J. E., & Jones-Brown, D. (2021). Too much policing: Why calls are made to defund the police. Punishment & Society, 14624745211045652. Web.
Eaglin, J. M. (2021). To ‘Defund’ the police. Stanford Law Review, 73. Web.
Levin, S. (2021). These US cities defunded police: ‘We’re transferring money to the community. The Guardian. Web.