Would Defunding the Police Destroy America?

Madison Schermer, Assistant Opinion Editor

After George Floyd’s death, riots and violence spread across our country like wildfire. In Seattle, anarchists set up an entire community. Chicago reported over 50 shootings during one weekend. Businesses were vandalized and looted in cities across America. Violence became rampant. What motivated this rash of criminal behavior?  Some believe George Floyd’s death is a product of a corrupt law enforcement system. They want to see police departments defunded and, in some cases, disbanded.  I do not believe this is the answer.

People are rightfully upset by George Floyd’s death. Any rational person should be disturbed by what happened to him. However, those calling to defund the police are demanding solutions that will cause our society to have more problems with greater loss of innocent life.                                                                                                                       

The first reason why we should not defund the police is that it would infringe on some of our core Constitutional rights. The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution champions the importance of ensuring “domestic tranquility” and providing for the “common welfare.” Defunding the police will create conditions that will compromise and degrade the ability to provide citizens’ fundamental rights across America.                     

Another reason to not defund the police is that they play an essential role in ensuring a stable society. If you defund or disband the police, you lose the ability to maintain law and order. Crime will run rampant and will overtake our communities. As a result, innocent people will be caught in the crossfire and suffer at criminals’ hands.    A third reason to not defund the police is that the left’s premise for this action is based on a false assumption. Many radicals are currently hurling blanket accusations of “systematic racism” and “institutional bias” at our police departments. These accusations are not valid and are unsupported by statistical data. According to former civil rights attorney Hans Bader, police kill two times as many unarmed white people as black people each year. By focusing on unfounded allegations of racism, we cannot address more critical issues like improved training and resources for overburdened police departments. 

One final reason for not defunding the police is that black communities do not want this change. Some of the loudest voices calling for the defunding of law enforcement are white. However, when you listen to black community members, they will tell you more police resources are needed. Recently, conservative organization Prager University conducted interviews in the streets of Harlem. Black citizens shared their concern that the community would fall apart without the police. These citizens went on to express a need for more police funding.                                                                        People are angry about the death of George Floyd, and they should be. However, acting irrationally and defunding the police is not the answer. What responsible citizens and leaders need to focus on is finding realistic ideas that ensure police have better resources and training to provide security and stability to our communities.