Americans need to have conversations about change. While most #police officers are good civil servants, the conversations must lead to real reform to stop the few bad people from abusing police power. One of the latest proposals that have spread from activists is the Defund the Police movement. 

This idea stems from the belief that funding should be reallocated from police budgets to government programs and services that will reduce inequality and increase opportunity. While we support measures to reduce inequality and increase opportunity for all, defunding police is the wrong approach to addressing police brutality for various reasons.

First of all, defunding the police reduces funding for vitally important training and ongoing professional development that needs to occur to address bad policing tactics. Police brutality usually occurs when overly aggressive policing tactics are implemented dramatically or with evil intent. 

Although police abuse of power is rare overall, even one instance is too many. To reduce this type of violence, we should reevaluate policing tactics and ensure our police are trained in the most effective de-escalation skills and techniques possible. If the intense training that police must undergo gets cut back from defunding, we will see a sharp rise in poor decision-making about using force and increased abuse of power. Good policing requires a commitment to robust training that must be ongoing. This requires funding.

Secondly, defunding the police will harm our force’s ability to recruit and retain good officers. Many activists and legislators have discussed the need for a diverse police department that reflects the demographics of the communities they serve. To recruit more minorities into policing, we must ensure a competitive living wage. 

Police departments have a problem recruiting minorities, especially from the African American community. Fewer young people today have an interest in law enforcement. In many cases, law enforcement officers leave the policing profession well before retirement age. Defunding their budgets will only exacerbate this problem. 

Lastly, defunding the police could reduce employee benefits that address emotional resiliency and other mental health resources that, if taken away due to budget cuts, could lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

The need for professional therapy and counseling, as well as a critical incident stress management system, is vital to help maintain the quality of life for the officer and his or her family. Due to continued exposure to high-risk, high-stress, high volatile situations daily, the profession is considered hazardous. 

Vice President Kamala Harris is the former attorney general of California. She has called herself the state’s “top cop.” While President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris believe that reforms need to be made within the criminal justice system, they do not believe that the police need to be defunded. 

In an article written by Pop Sugar, it states that Vice President Biden supports the "urgent need for reform, including funding for public schools, summer programs, and mental health and substance abuse treatment separate from funding for policing, so that officers can focus on the job of policing."

We need real criminal justice reform focused on improving public safety and making the system more equal. The law enforcement community, as a whole, must work with legislators to reevaluate tactics and training. 

Law enforcement captains and leaders should evaluate whether their officers have empathy for the community they are sworn to protect. Localities should also perform better oversight of police departments. 

However, to achieve real police reform, funds are necessary to influence and implement these changes, and therefore, the police should not be defunded.