As slogans go, it’s pretty bad. I mean, it doesn’t actually get across what you–we– want to do, does it? Which is to rethink police budgets, reprioritize what we want and need the police to do, retrain when necessary, and reallocate funds accordingly.
Think about it. Do we need police to be front-line, mental health experts? Do we need police to perform routine traffic duties? Do we need police to “police” and handle the homeless, or to be social workers? Do we need police to be pseudo-military? There are many such questions, and they are legitimate. Whether you answer, “yes,” “no,” or “what a waste of their time,” to any of them, at least you’re thinking about it. At least we’re starting to talk about it. Hey, we’re thinking and talking! When has that ever been a bad thing? Isn’t that reasonable? Isn’t that smart?
What we don’t want is the status quo. We don’t want surface, token change. What we don’t want are secrecy and lies and police unions that protect even the bad apples– the ones who abuse their power and then lie about it on police reports. Protecting them only makes people distrust you. We should be able to trust you! We WANT to trust you.
Conversely, we don’t want emotional reactions that call for the removal of all police.
And what we really, really, want to avoid is a political civil war over extreme and entrenched positions. Police are bad! Police are good! A few bad apples! Systemic racism!
How about this? There are good police officers who live by their oath to serve and protect. There are bad police officers, the so-called “bad apples” whose rot can infect the entire barrel. And there is systemic racism in many departments nationwide.
I’ve liked most of the HPD officers I’ve met. It helps that we have a uniquely diverse population and our officers reflect that diversity. That doesn’t mean I turn a blind eye to the problems we have here– foremost of which is secrecy. And it certainly doesn’t mean I can ignore the extreme dangers facing people of color in other parts of the country.
I started by stating we should stop saying, “defund the police.” It’s a polarizing slogan.
Is there another one, a better one? All I can come up with is “Let’s make policing better,” and that is pretty lame.
I’m not good at sloganeering– I need your help. Have any suggestions?
Great opinion piece, Jade! Agree! “Defund Police” plays right into the G O P’s hands! How about “Reinvent Policing!” “Repair Policing!” Or “Community Policing Now!”
Great suggestions. Thanks for the feedback. I knew there’d be better suggestions out there.
MTE! Unfortunately, we expect the general public to understand “nuance.” They don’t on “defund” anymore than they see the word “too” in Black Lives Matter and somehow see the word “more” (Or “only.”) It’s a shame that REFUND is already “taken” cos that’s what it means to me: to re-fund (i.e redistribute) the Police Dept funds . . . tho there IS a sense of actually WANTING a “refund” — we want our money back cos we are dissatisfied with their services.
Although “refund” in that sense may be just as polarizing as “defund.” Perhaps there’s no way to “shorthand” the issue. It’s complicated.