“Defund the Police” is shouted at rallies, painted on signs, and hashtagged on social media, but what does it actually mean? How will it affect different communities across this country? Newell invited Dr. Alex del Carmen onto the program to discuss. Dr. del Carmen is an Associate Dean and Professor at the College of Liberal and Fine Arts School of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Strategic Studies at Tarleton State University.
“Doctor, it seems like this mantra is taking on a lot of different definitions across the country,” Newell said. “It’s so fluid, I’m not actually sure what it means anymore. Your thoughts?”“There’s been different interpretations,” del Carmen said. “Some say it means completely dismantling police departments, while others argue it means redesigning police department funding schemes, which seems to be the more moderate approach as opposed to just shutting down everything and taking away all the funding.”“I’ve also heard about reengineering or re-imagining what police do,” Newell said. “But it also makes it sound like they approach the topic as though police have a choice in the matter. I was in the policing business for 40 years, 10 years as Sheriff. When I raised my right hand and took an oath to enforce the laws of the state and the Federal government, it seemed to me that it was fairly clear.”“It is. I think part of the issue is, what is the alternative?” del Carmen answered. “Some people are pointing at a small little town in New Jersey, where they actually defunded the department, fired all the officers, and reconstituted a new police department with more of a community-oriented component, but I see that as not necessarily feasible across the United States. We have to be very careful. What happened to George Floyd is deplorable, but we have to be careful that we don't react to this in an emotional way. We need to rely on science, evidence, studies done over the course of many years and figure out how to improve policing instead of destroying the good things we have now.”