The tragic death of a 20-year-old black man in a Minneapolis suburb reignited calls from Democrats and activists to change policing radically.
On Monday evening, Rep. Rashida Tlaib called for the end of traditional law enforcement altogether.
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“It wasn’t an accident. Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist,” the Michigan Democrat tweeted. “Daunte Wright was met with aggression & violence. I am done with those who condone government funded murder. No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.”
Tlaib’s remarks sparked pushback from the White House, with press secretary Jen Psaki saying on Tuesday that “ending policing” is “not the president’s view.”
Former President Barack Obama weighed in as well, posting his own statement on Twitter expressing condolences for Wright’s family and calling for comprehensive criminal justice reform.
“Our hearts are heavy over yet another shooting of a Black man, Daunte Wright, at the hands of police,” he wrote in a Tuesday tweet. “The fact that this could happen even as the city of Minneapolis is going through the heart-wrenching murder of George Floyd indicates not just how important it is to conduct a full and transparent investigation, but also just how badly we need to reimagine policing and public safety in this country.”
“Reimagining policing” is an idea embraced by a number of left-wing prosecutors in cities such as San Francisco and Philadelphia. Those district attorneys have faced harsh criticism over their policies, which include opting not to charge lawbreakers for a number of low-level offenses, even as violent crime reaches all-time highs.
Law enforcement groups, like one in Tlaib’s district, say painting all police officers with a broad brush will only hurt the public and potentially increase the kind of incidents seen in Brooklyn Center on Sunday.
“They won’t have to do much defunding, they’ve made a once honorable job one that no one wants to stay on anymore. Here in Michigan, they’ve made the job so unattractive, between reductions in benefits,” Police Officers Association of Michigan President James Tignanelli told the Washington Examiner. “I know there are things out there that happen, and it’s terrible, but we do millions of stops and citizen contacts a year, and we didn’t have any of the kind of shootings [seen in Minnesota] last year. Doesn’t mean it couldn’t have happened, but the police is gonna defund itself. Departments are gonna shrink.”
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Our Revolution, a political action committee that supported Sen. Bernie Sanders in his last two presidential campaigns, repeated its calls for cutting police budgets.
“Enough is enough! The murder of Daunte Wright was NO ACCIDENT – it is a systemic issue that must be addressed immediately. #DefundThePolice #CriminalJusticeReform,” the group wrote on Twitter.
That call was joined by New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat close with “the Squad.” In a tweet, Bowman said police officers don’t need “lethal weapons [to carry] out routine traffic stops.”
“Re-allocate police funding to unarmed traffic forces to remove even the possibility of state-sanctioned manslaughter,” he wrote.
Despite Democrats demanding radical solutions, officers regularly ask for greater training. More funding for weapons guidance, for example, could help avert future tragedies, they say.
But straining resources, as well as creating a culture that demonizes law enforcement, Tignanelli said, means police departments won’t recruit the best and brightest.
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“If you took a 100-man department and used some of that revenue to pay the 80 remaining more, you’d get better officers, maybe,” he said. “It’s not really the kind of job that a 30-year-old guy who is laid off from someplace can just become a police officer. Civilized people appreciate the police. And even bad guys call us when they get ripped off.”
