Defund the Police

(and other interesting ideas)

Discussions I hear among long-time traditional Democrats often include irritation (and anger) at the rhetoric of younger, Lefter, party activists, especially the Democratic Socialists. “Silly stuff”, they call it, especially Defund the Police. So let’s talk about it for a moment.

  I have lived and worked in many of this country’s big cities – Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, DC, San Francisco/Oakland, and booked professional days in many others. In broad terms, based on decades of personal and reported data, I can tell you that law enforcement in these places is generally arrogant, expensive, racist, violent, and uncontrolled.  Cops get the largest share of local discretionary budgets - often 40 percent. They are disproportionately military vets (20% vs. 6-7% in the general adult population). Law enforcement cultures, equipment, and presentations are decidedly military. My reporting life has included scores of police scandals, and many more incidents that should have been. Last year American police officers killed an average of three or four citizens every calendar day. We notice these things when it’s Rene Goode, don’t we.

At the back end of all this, our incarceration system in this country is a catastrophe by any metric whatsoever. Accounting broadly, criminal justice – police, courts, jails, family burden – totals maybe a $1 trillion/year. A Trillion Dollars. 

Now consider what a typical young American looks at when gazing at society: a few people with more than they will ever need, and the large majority with never enough. This is the system. Full stop. Tell me a zip code and skin color and I can tell you pretty quickly which side of that deal a person will be. And police are employed largely to enforce this system.

In most of history this kind of thing ends in armed confrontation. The alternative is to discuss openly the economic (and racial) divides and any such conversation has to include how we allocate public funds, and how we use force. A successful politician’s opening offer is not what he or she is willing to settle for. Ask for everything and bargain down.

Six months ago we would have been annoyed at the suggestion that ICE be abolished. Now it’s virtually conventional wisdom and even the Department Homeland Security is in question. We probably shouldn’t try to reduce law enforcement funding to zero (the DSA position) but it’s not crazy to make us confront what we are getting for all the violence and pain being used and for the money we spend to do it. 

– Tom DeVries

Sept. 20, 2026