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Erik caballero
Prof. Martinez
ENGL 1302
3 April 2024
Researched Position Paper
Many people think it is good to defund the police for their actions but do not consider the

criminal consequences of the actions other people will be doing once there is no more justice

department stopping them. Defunding the police has been a very debatable subject ever since it

started. Many people, specifically minorities, more than anyone, want to defund the police for all

the pain they have been put through. However, there was a consequence not thought of, and is

explained further in the journal “From defunding to refunding police: institutions and the

persistence of policing budgets” made by Fegley et al., “We find that they did not: municipalities

that promised to defund the police temporarily reduced police budgets, only to later increase

them beyond what they were previously” (Fegley et al.). Still, they don’t think about the

aftermath and consequences of what will happen after the police lose money and power and how

it will affect everybody and their safety in the community. They do not consider how everyone

will be able to do whatever they want with no consequences for their actions, and it is up to the

community to act for their protection since no police department or justice department can do

anything if everybody defunds the police. While defunding the police was believed to be an

effective means of enacting positive change in theory, defunding the police proved itself to be a

net negative for communities because it led to increased crime rates, job losses, and mental

health issues.

Criminal consequences of defunding the police

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Many different things can happen when the police get defunded, depending on where the

person lives, how drastic the change will be, and how much the community gets involved and

acts. Defunding the police, in this case, means taking most of the money they get from the

government taken away and put towards other social places or different public organizations.

However, there will still be consequences with defunding the police since there will be fewer

police officers around the area, which will reduce patrolling. This, in return, can cause several

things like slow response time to 911 calls, and this can encourage criminals to commit more

crimes since they will have a long time to be able to get away with it, unlike how they did when

the police department had funding, but this can be changed if the city will implement an

alternative way of fighting against crime. Another consequence will also be the fact that there

will be fewer police officers, which would force the leftover officers to focus on severe crimes

instead of small ones. Also, there would not be any leftover officers to be security or do side

jobs. Another thing that will fail is the training and equipment that police departments need to

combat crime and ensure their officers are adequately trained and equipped. The main thing is

public safety concerns since if there are not many police officers, crime rates will go up, and

people will be constantly anxious and afraid, which can lead to mental problems for some

individuals. Defunding the police is an overall bad idea, but all these consequences are debatable

since the actual outcome depends on the location and the different strategies put in place to stop

crime and the community efforts to prevent crime.

The importance of training police officers to reduce incidents.

Training police officers is critical for several reasons. For example, it reduces any racial

problems that may happen. With low police training, more incidents are more likely to occur like

the article titled “Police Violence in Black and White: A Critical Discourse Analysis of
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Newspaper Reporting on the Police Killings of Clifford Glover and Sean Bell in Jamaica,

Queens, New York “ made by Roychoudhory et al. says about the matter “ Recent research has

considered the impact of high levels of police contact and police use of force as it relates to mass

incarceration” (Roychoudhury et al.) goes into detail about how the more force officers us the

more people will go to prison. Professionalism and ethics are crucial for a good police officer,

and several complicated pieces of training ensure they have the best professionalism and ethics

they can have. In the training, they learn how to represent the law correctly and treat all races or

social groups fairly. De-escalation techniques have also been discovered in training and are

extremely useful and needed when they are out doing their job. Different comprehensive

trainings teach police officers techniques to de-escalate situations without using too much force.

This de-escalation practice can help reduce racial tensions or police brutality. Cultural training is

also very important, as it can teach police officers about other cultures' sensitivities and reduce

the risk of racial tension between police officers and people in the community. Understanding all

this helps police officers interact better with people from different backgrounds and races, which

reduces the chances of any racism or misconduct between the community and law enforcement.

Training may also help officers be less biased than they are since they might not even notice.

Officers can train and make fair choices with the community by addressing these biased

decisions. Legal practice training makes sure that police officers know the law as perfectly as

they can so they can learn the dos and don'ts when interacting with the community. Legal

practice training includes knowing constitutional rights, use of force policies, and producers for

conducting investigations, which helps officers do things correctly and fairly. Expectations of

training make sure that every police officer is up to a standard across the board to reduce the

chances of problems. This includes taking accountability for the officer's actions regarding not
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following protocol and misconduct that destroys the community's trust in the police department.

Police officers with good training and exemplary professionalism build a good relationship with

the community, which is also very important, and police training helps with that. According to

the journal “Taking the Knee No More: Police Accountability and the Structure of Racism,”

(Troutt et al.) it says that “The point is not to prove how racism may or may not motivate

individual police officer conduct through, say, implicit bias or warrior culture.” (Troutt et al.)

explain how people think and act based on their morals about every race. A good relationship

with the community police officer is crucial since they are more likely to collaborate and get help

finding criminals or investigating. But every city and state is different in how effective defunding

the police hits them and how effective it is since some do not experience any difference like the

journal “Defunding the police through shared service agreements: The impact on cost savings,

staffing, and public safety using a bias‐corrected synthetic control analysis” by Mazeika et al.

and the journal says “There were fewer officers in the contracting force per capita post

contracting, but no effects on public safety” (Mazeika et al.) says how some cities do not get

affected but most of them and it will still be highly encouraged not to defund the police. Overall,

having police officers undergo training is critical to ensuring they are effective and the best they

can be. So, in that case, defunding the police will take away the necessary things needed to train

and ensure the police officers are ready to protect the law.

Reasons why people think it is good to defund the police.

Many people believe that police cause more trouble than good, especially in minority

communities because they think many police officers are racist and abuse their power. A story

from “BREONNA TAYLOR: TRANSFORMING A HASHTAG INTO DEFUNDING THE

POLICE” written by Martin et al. says that “First, police violence against Black women is a

common result of systemic racialized, gendered biases, misinformed by monolithic stereotypes

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and justified through the absence of institutional discipline and general social disapproval.”

(Martin et al.) suggest that police show excessive violence towards African Americans,

especially toward African American women. The journal details the Brianna Taylor incident to

highlight its points of police using excessive force and why it's better to get rid of them and settle

the problem themselves. More cases led to people wanting to defund the police over racial

issues, and this information comes from the article “Progressive or problematic? A comparative

analysis of media depictions of demands to defund the police” by Miltonette Olivia Craig et al.

and it goes on to explain that “The 2020 police-involved killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis,

Minnesota, sparked social justice demonstrations across the United States that reached

magnitudes not seen since the Civil Rights Movement of the1960s (Lum et al., 2021). “-

(Miltonette Olivia Craig) goes on to explain how actions led to people, especially minorities,

starting the defunding of the police movement and how their actions are fueled by hatred and

vengeance for years of racism.

Conclusion
Defunding the police is very controversial, and there are two sides to it, but in the end, it's better

not to defund the police, no matter what their history might be, because they keep order and the

community safe from danger. It will be worse to defund the police since everything will go

downhill, and problems in society will escalate and lead to more issues.
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Work cited page.

BREONNA TAYLOR: TRANSFORMING A HASHTAG INTO DEFUNDING THE POLICE Martin,
Jordan. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology; Chicago Vol. 111, Iss. 4, (Fall 2021): 995-
1030.
BREONNA TAYLOR: TRANSFORMING A HASHTAG INTO DEFUNDING THE POLICE - ProQuest

Defunding the police through shared service agreements: The impact on cost savings, staffing, and
public safety using a bias‐corrected synthetic control analysis.

https://www.proquest.com/docview/2847169390/734CD005F23F43BBPQ/5?accountid=7081&sou
rcetype=Scholarly%20Journals

Fegley, Tate, Murtazashvili, Ilia, Public Choice; Dordrecht Vol. 196, Iss. 1-2, (Jul 2023): 123-140.
“From defunding to refunding police: institutions and the persistence of policing budgets.”

https://www.proquest.com/docview/2831676504/734CD005F23F43BBPQ/9?accountid=7081&s
ourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals
Progressive or problematic? A comparative analysis of media depictions of demands to defund the police
Miltonette Olivia Craig; Reid, Jonathan C. Policing; Bradford Vol. 45, Iss. 4, (2022): 600-617.
DOI:10.1108/PIJPSM-09-2021-0124
Progressive or problematic? A comparative analysis of media depictions of demands to defund the police -
ProQuest

Roychoudhury, Debanjan. Du Bois Review; Cambridge “Police Violence in Black and White: A Critical
Discourse Analysis of Newspaper Reporting on the Police Killings of Clifford Glover and Sean
Bell in Jamaica, Queens, New York” Vol. 20, Iss. 1, (Spring 2023): 111-141.
DOI:10.1017/S1742058X22000029
Police Violence in Black and White: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Newspaper Reporting on
the Police Killings of Clifford Glover and Sean Bell in Jamaica, Queens, New York - ProQuest

Troutt, David Dante. Washington and Lee Law Review Washington and Lee Law Review; Lexington
“Taking the Knee No More: Police Accountability and the Structure of Racism”
Vol. 79, Iss. 5, (Winter 2023): 1765-1828.
Taking the Knee No More: Police Accountability and the Structure of Racism - ProQuest