The death of George Floyd has spurred national and international demonstrations as well as calls to defund police departments. It sounds like a radical idea but, in reality, depending on how such strategies are implemented, the approach is less radical than it sounds.
First, it doesn’t mean eliminating the police. “Disbanding” is a not a great banner name for the movement. Reimaging might be a better word choice. No one believes we don’t need police at all. We just need to use them differently.
Police are charged with doing too much in this country. They not only arrest offenders, book them, then have to be available at criminal prosecutions, but they also do everything from being present at a car accident to talking down would-be suicide jumpers to acting as crossing guards.
This is too much to handle and a waste of resources. Some of the money allocated to police for larger staffs, more vehicles, and additional weaponry could be better dispersed among other agencies that could better handle the jobs that don’t have to do with making arrests.
Let me give you an example. The family of a client of mine called 911 because their child was in the midst of a psychotic episode. EMS workers came accompanied by police — two big burly guys. The kid spit at them. But for the father’s intervention (I might add that both the father and son were Caucasian), the kid would probably have been beaten. After police found cocaine on him, he was charged with drug possession and served a summons the day after he got out of the hospital. How’s that for encouragement to call 911?
911 is a great tool, but it shouldn’t necessitate bringing out the police. If the situation involves a person who is mentally ill, suffering from drug withdrawal, or simply homeless, a mental-health worker or social services outreach person might be a better fit. When I lived in Paris, years ago, and found a barely conscious drug user in my apartment hallway, needle sticking out from her leg, my first reaction was to call the police. My French neighbor intervened telling me, “No, here we call the firemen.” A much saner choice. When the firemen arrived, the woman was removed without struggle and brought to a hospital, not jail. It’s automatically less confrontational, when the people intervening carry a first-aid kit rather than a gun and handcuffs.
At least one city in the United States is implementing this approach. In Austin, Texas, when 911 is called, the dispatcher asks if the caller needs police, fire, or mental health services, then sends out the appropriate team.
I’ve handled dozens of cases of people charged with felony assaults simply because, in the course of being arrested for something minor, they flailed their arms which led to rougher police action and an injury to the cop. Even if minor, any injury to a police officer makes the crime a felony. If a mental health worker had attended, the situation might not have spun out of control.
Police departments around the country have grown fat with funding since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Even cops in small towns are able to purchase paramilitary equipment which, when used, makes them daunting presences rather than neighborhood resources and creates further barriers between them and the people they’re charged with protecting.
There’s no doubt police are needed to enforce the law, but they’re not miracle workers. They should not be thrown into situations (specifically with the mentally ill) for which they’re not trained. Some are racist. Many are not. They’re just trying to earn a living.
Perhaps we’ve asked them to do too much. What better time than now to reorient our expectations of them, both for their safety and everyone else’s. That’s what “disbanding” is about.
Toni Messina has tried over 100 cases and has been practicing criminal law and immigration since 1990. You can follow her on Twitter: @tonitamess.