It’s a rallying cry for protesters: “Defund the Police!” Or, in some cases, calls to disband police departments or even abolish them completely.
These demands may sound radical, but they’re not new. So what do they actually mean?
Let’s start with defunding the police. In most instances, this type of reform is less about eliminating police departments and more about reallocating the money that funds them to address the root causes of crime.
The Black Lives Matter organization is calling for a national defunding of the police, but the specifics look different in every city. For example, Black Lives Matter LA has proposed a budget that would cut police funding from more than 50% of the total city budget to just under 6 percent. About a quarter of the new budget would support “Reimagined Community Safety.” That community safety bucket would fund services like family counseling, gang and domestic violence prevention, and community-led crisis response, according to the organization.
Another way a city could execute sweeping overhauls in law enforcement is to disband its police force and rebuild it from scratch. This strategy is rare, but there are a few examples.
Camden, New Jersey took this approach in 2012 after crime levels hit record highs. The city laid off its entire staff, overhauled training to emphasize community policing and re-hired about 40% of officers. Since this reform, the Camden County Police Department has seen an 85% drop in excessive force complaints, according to its county director.
Finally, the most radical plan for police reform involves abolishing the police altogether. Similar to the defunding approach, most of the activists in this camp are in favor of strengthening social and community services in place of law enforcement.
Most organizers advocating for this plan admit it will take a lot of time and societal change before this is a viable option. But many say it’s important to keep this goal at the center of the movement for community reform.
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