by Gennette Cordova
The summer protests of 2020, fueled by police violence like the murder of George Floyd, brought amplified calls for the defunding of police departments across the country, at a volume that had not been heard prior and has not been heard since. The overwhelming backlash to those demands was swift and, in many cases, intentionally misleading. From country clubs to coffee shops, on the news and at family gatherings, out of the mouths of electeds and regular folks commenting online, a pronounced characteristic of post-2020 America is the scapegoating of imaginary police defunding for societal failures.
The truth of the matter is that there was never any change to our city’s police budget that kept them from paying officers or hindered their ability to prevent or solve crime.
Continue reading OPINION | Debunking the Defunding Myth