Defunding the police has become a buzzword for many and a scare tactic for others, however, the concept itself is not that complicated. Put simply, defunding the police is a policy that seeks to reallocate a portion of a police department’s budget and fund social resources with it. What this means is that instead of police budgets ballooning to match the GDP of small nations, resources like mental health and violence prevention can get the funding they need.
This concept is very uncomplicated, however, much like the COVID-19 vaccine it was politicized and its public image was impacted. It went from a policy of social equity and justice to a policy so misunderstood, if 100 people were asked about it, they would give different answers. Yet, at the center of all this is a policy so simple it is almost common sense.
The Simplicity of Defunding the Police
Defunding the police is an incredibly simple policy. It doesn’t mean that the police are going to disappear entirely, or that there is going to be crime everywhere if the police get less funding. What defunding the police is about is understanding that the police as an institution only have one tool. American policing as an organization only has one tool to deal with its problems. That tool is force, or rather violence. There is an adage that fits perfectly with the modern understanding of policing. The metaphor goes “when one only has a hammer in their tool belt, everything starts to look like a nail.”
The Hammer of the State
This “hammer-like” mentality can be seen in many police districts. Where police treat the people they are supposed to “serve” like criminals. However, the police can’t serve any of the people in their district with their hammer-like mentality. The reason for this is that the police simply don’t serve the working class. They serve as soldiers for the owners of society, they serve the capitalist class and the capitalist class alone. This can be seen in their behavior.
They attack homeless people, they attack journalists, and they attack activists. The police have what is known as a monopoly on violence. They have the ok from the American government to harm whomever they want as long as people don’t catch it on film. The police protect the interests of the people in power. Every time a major protest movement starts, the police are there to stop them. Yet on January 6, when the fascists wanted to take over the nation they were welcomed in with open arms. The police serve only the people in power, so why should they have more and more tools to oppress and harm the working class?
Chicago’s Massive Police Budget
Many things have been mentioned so far about the police, especially their budgets. So let’s start with that. Since most of the people reading this will be from Chicago, let’s start there. The Chicago police budget for 2023 is $1.94 billion, according to WTTW. With that information, one can compare this budget with other large sums. The Chicago city police department’s budget is comparable to the GDP of small countries. The Central African Republic has a GDP of $1.95 billion, and Gambia has a GDP of $1.45 billion, according to Worldometers.
Chicago’s Police Problem Has a Solution
When the budget of one city’s police budget is comparable to small African nations or collections of islands, then that city has a problem. The city of Chicago has a major budgeting problem when it comes to its allocation of the city’s police budget. If the city officials and administrators care so much about the deficit, then they could simply take from the police budget.
All in all, defunding the police isn’t hard or scary. It is a simple common sense policy that could do a lot of good in Chicago. There are many reasons why it could or even should happen. Yet, the police have a very specific role in society. American policing is about protecting the interests of the rich and thwarting the progress of the commons.
As a consequence, the Chicago city police budget may balloon to even greater heights. However, the citizens of Chicago should know that there is a policy that can stop this and put power back in their hands. This policy is called defunding the police
Opinion by Kenneth Mazerat
Sources
WorldOMeter: GDP by Country
WTTW: $1.94B Budget for Chicago Police Not Being Used ‘Effectively or Equitably:’ Commission by Heather Cherone
ACLU: Defunding the Police Will Actually Make Us Safer by Paige Fernandez
Britannica: state monopoly on violence by Andre Munro
Mises: POLICE HAVE NO DUTY TO PROTECT YOU, FEDERAL COURT AFFIRMS YET AGAIN by Ryan McMaken
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Chad Davis‘ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
First Inset Image Courtesy of Thomas Hawk‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Second Inset Image Courtesy of Jason Lawrence‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
