De-fund the police? Call it something else

There’s a new-ish phrase making the rounds along with the pandemic and all of the protests and rallies against police brutality.

“De-fund the police.”

Yes, some people are calling to abolish the police. But the “de-fund” movement is more about re-imagining what our police force looks like, what it’s tasked to do and how it interacts with communities.

The idea behind the phrase is this: we’ve put too many of our public safety eggs into a basket that has, honestly, only a few options when presented with tense situations.

Proponents of the movement contend that there are better ways to deal with many of societies ills than by sending an armed response.

They say that the people who respond to crises in our community should be the people who are best-equipped to deal with those crises. Rather than “strangers armed with guns,” first responders should include mental health providers, social workers, victim advocates and other community members in less visible but more appropriate roles.

In other words, proponents say, take some of the money that goes into law enforcement and re-invest it in education, in jobs, in social services for mental health, domestic violence and homelessness, among others.

Words matter. I know, I trade in written words every single day. “De-fund” the police is not a phrase that will resonate with most of America, even if some of the proposals make sense. It’s not even what this is about.

It’s sorta like folks using the phrase “global warming” when what they really need to focus on is climate change. Global warming is too nuanced. It’s what’s happening, by and large, but it’s easily mis-characterized. But, global warming is causing climate change and serious weather watchers will attest that our climate is indeed changing.

With images of police violence dominating our televisions every night (yes, I know — not all police but, too many of them are captured on video doing things that absolutely smack of police brutality), maybe this discussion has merit.

But, call it something else or this will go no where.