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Defunding the Police Equals Less Diversity and Training
Why Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and other prominent Democrats aren’t on board with defunding the police.
There aren’t many Democrats who don’t believe in the need for criminal justice and policing reforms in America, if any. Democrats disagree, however, and vehemently, about defunding the police.
While some Democrats believe nothing less than defunding and abolishing will eradicate what is broken in our criminal justice system, there are more than a few prominent Democrats who believe reforms can be accomplished without such drastic measures.
They tend to be more moderate, practical in terms of what voters are likely to support and realistic about real-world impact.
Rep. Jim Clyburn is among the ranks of these. He stunned his fans and stupefied his critics last week by advocating for paying police officers more, rather than stripping police departments of funds.
Clyburn and other Democrats who don’t favor defunding the police point to a harsh reality: Cities that have tried it, like Minneapolis and Portland, have not only failed, but failed so badly as to set criminal justice and policing reforms back decades.
In Democrat-voting areas where crime is skyrocketing, new converts are evaporating. If this continues, ballot…