Ever since the protests that took place in 2020, Portland has seriously reduced funding for their police department. This is a huge mistake. If Portland police were to be further defunded, it would cause a huge spike in the crime rate, but none of the #PoliceReform people have been calling for.

$15 million was slashed from police funds in June of 2020 when the Portland City Council voted in favor of defunding the police. Even then, it still wasn’t enough for activists; they wanted to cut at least $50 million from the police budget.

This is a terrible idea. We need the police, we need a safe Portland… and overwhelmingly, Portlanders do not feel safe. Crime is on the rise, yet people still haven’t stopped clamoring for further decreases to police funds. 

The concern increased when the "Black Lives Matter" movement came to Portland. People took to the streets, creating chaos and demanding reform. Citizens have certain rights under the First Amendment, including "tue right of the people peaceably to assemble, and petition the Government for a redress of grievances." A lot of people would very much like to see reform in police departments, that isn’t a new thing. But removing police funding would bring the exact opposite of the reform we need, and it would only jeopardize the city and its people.

Let’s be reasonable here. Removing money from the police budget will in no way improve black lives... or any lives, for that matter. It is only a show of force designed to punish the police department for the actions of other cops. There are a multitude of reasons why defunding the police is not a good choice, and it shouldn’t be considered as an option in the first place.

“It’s counterproductive to having well-trained officers,” said police Sgt. Derrick Foxworth. And most people would agree that police training is the best way to prevent misconduct. In order to better train their officers, the police will need funds. The whole reason we have a police force is to ensure that we get prompt responses when we need them in an emergency. You can’t get good police officers without paying them a fair wage. 

Reducing police funds will only mean an unsafe community. Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell has said that “an additional cut of $18 million would require significant layoffs and affect the police bureau's ability to respond to 911 calls.” We need to have the type of police officers who take their jobs seriously and are honored to serve our community, and we can't have that type of devoted public servant unless we truly value them and show respect for their position. 

Removing money from police would be a disastrous move. People are seriously suggesting that we should replace police officers with trained (but unarmed) first responders. This is what they want to do in schools. How are these “unarmed trained responders” going to respond in an emergency violent situation? It is unlikely that they will be able to put a stop to any serious crime by just sending out positive vibes.

The police department could use some work, because there is always room for improvement. Further limiting their resources is not a viable solution. Punishing all police departments for the actions of just a few officers doesn’t seem like a very smart move. Moreover, it is not justified. How many riots have you seen the police start? Or how many times has anyone witnessed the police department looting stores?

The correct move would be to educate the police in better tactics, and increase community outreach programs so that Portlanders will be able to interact much more seamlessly with police.