Protesters around the country have been asking for police reform holding signs that read “Defund the police.” // Photo courtesy of Altamar
Defunding the police is a controversial topic currently being debated around the nation since the death of George Floyd, whose death reignited the Black Lives Matter movement. Despite the conversations being had, “defund” is a term that still needs to be defined. Hofstra University’s Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice, in conjunction with the Center for Civic Engagement, hosted a panel on Wednesday, Sept. 2, about what it means to defund the police and possible solutions to this problem.
Speakers at the panel included Alex Vitale, a author and professor of sociology at Brooklyn College; George Ciccariello-Maher, author and associate professor of political science at Vassar College; and the Rev. Dr. Sedgwick Easley.
“The problems of racial disparities and police violence are the result of unconscious bias,” Vitale said. “Racism is not accidental; it is embedded in the very idea that certain communities can only have police when they have a problem.”
Guns, handcuffs, ticket books, tasers and tear gas are just a few of the weapons police officers use to detain people. “[N]ot [all of those] tools [are] needed to solve community problems,” Vitale said. “The solution is to remove that police function and replace it with something that actually empowers communities.”
A common question the panel addressed was what should be done in these communities instead of increasing police presence. The recurring answer involved either removing funds from or completely replacing the police system in the United States. The funds could be used to support helpful public resources such as homeless shelters, schools, mental health institutions and other public establishments
“There is absolutely no evidence that policing makes us safer,” Ciccariello-Maher said. “Defunding the police will allow us to dedicate resources to the real causes of violence in communities by building a safety net and investing in public goods, schools, health care and recreation activities.”
By committing to contribute to public resources, Ciccariello-Maher said, “We will begin to see that the police are far less necessary than we believe, and we can begin to imagine a world without police entirely.”
Easley, a Black man, was able to bring an important perspective to the panel. Easley discussed the Black Lives Matter protests and how many people may feel that defunding the police is a drastic solution to the problem. “When the history of your people has been murdered for 400 years, it isn’t drastic,” he said. “Even if you are guilty, you ought not be murdered and slaughtered.”
Easley continued by discussing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bill proposed in 2020 which will increase the accountability of law enforcement officers in cases of misconduct. The bill will also create a national registry which will compile data on complaints and records of police misconduct.
“The tragedy surrounding the killing of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake have made it clear that racism still exists in this nation and that something needs to be done to fix that. I sympathize with those of color who have felt mistreated by the American society. as racism is something no one should endure,” said freshman journalism major Michael Richardson.
When it comes to reforming the police in terms of extensions of the criminal justice system, such as the courts, jails and prisons, the ideal plan is for those institutions to be “dismantled” and replaced with something different, according to Ciccariello-Maher. “I think this is a really good idea and certain parts of the country where the police have, frankly, grown militarized and have not … [been] upholding their oath to the American people. Urban areas like New York City are a good example of that. However, when we look at areas of the country that aren’t necessarily [as] well off financially as the cities, it gets really tricky,” said Matthew McDermott, a sophomore communications major.
Even the suggestion that police officers receive better training was called into question. “It’s not an issue of the training, a lot of it is rooted in racism,” Easley said. “When you begin to look at other incidents across the nation where Black folks have had their hands up, that’s not an issue of training, a lot of that is an issue of racism, of white supremacy.”
Regardless of their training and if the police do their job properly, their work is still harmful at this point in time, said Vitale.