# Spin-Off thread from Life Hacks about Defund Police **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798 "2023-03-25T00:16:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/1 "2023-03-25T00:16:36Z")
An echo or Alexa that can be programmed to call you (or send a text, email, whatever) by voice commands sounds like a really good idea. My mother was ready to die, and had a DNR. I wasn’t worried she might be lying unconscious on the floor. My fear was that she might be lying in pain, unable to alert anyone. (She did fall and break her hip, but somehow managed to crawl to a phone and call 911. This was around the time of the “defund the police” movement, and i was pretty happy that the police had been able to respond, call me, and take her to a hospital. Which made me less sympathetic to the whole “defund” thing.) ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/2 "2023-03-28T15:02:41Z")
The point of the defund movement was to replace omnipresent police duties with civilians who do those jobs without guns and tasers. not to eliminate those services! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/3 "2023-03-28T15:06:58Z")
Yeah, that would have been a much better slogan. And honestly, the police ARE the right people to (potentially) forcibly enter someone’s home. Even if the main goal is sending a medic, the medic should probably be accompanied by a police officer. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/4 "2023-03-28T15:09:15Z")
That may have been the point- but the 'defund the police" slogan certainly didn’t make that clear and only some of it is practical anyway. Sure, you can send social workers out to see if a hoarder needs help but it’s impractical to have social workers working 24/7 covering small areas for wellness checks - and how would they break down the door if necessary ? . And if the call is about an emotionally disturbed person threatening people with a machete, the social workers aren’t going without the police anyway. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/5 "2023-03-28T15:30:53Z")
“replace the police” or “civilians first” would have made much better slogans. And for what it’s worth, the police who responded to my mother’s 911 call did exactly the right things. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/6 "2023-03-28T16:38:19Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > “replace the police” I much prefer “reform the police”. At least when referring to George Floyd. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/7 "2023-03-28T16:43:36Z")
The defund the police movement fundamentally mistrusts the police, and doesn’t think a reform will work. That’s not a crazy perspective. Lots of attempts at reform have failed. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/8 "2023-03-28T16:49:17Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Lots of attempts at reform have failed. Oh, I understand that, for sure. But ‘reform the police’ resonates slightly better with the right-wing crazies. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/9 "2023-03-28T18:27:38Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > “replace the police” or “civilians first” would have made much better slogans. Possibly. Unfortunately, the people who had had it with armed men in uniforms terrorizing their neighborhoods didn’t bother with a focus group to test slogans with before going into the street to protest against the dehumanization, torture, and outright murder that they were enduring. Very few on the left have used that phrase since, it’s pretty much just kept alive by the right wing fear machine who claim that it is actually a policy position of the Democrats and by supposed “centrists” who complain that it was ever used by anyone. People always _claim_ to want grassroots movements, but they seem to always complain if they don’t have the polish of a professional one. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > And for what it’s worth, the police who responded to my mother’s 911 call did exactly the right things. Yeah, downside of there being tens of thousands of independent police departments in the US is that someone may complain about the inhumane way they are treated by their local police, and people who don’t live in that community just can’t understand what it is that they are complaining about, _their_ cops are great. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/10 "2023-03-28T18:44:51Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > the police who responded to my mother’s 911 call did exactly the right things. They do OK as long as they have you firmly in the Victim group and not the Criminal/Threat/Nuisance group. I have had few contacts with the police over the years but they have gone as follows: - Helping Scouts donate xmas trees to a PBA charity… you’re their best friend. Smiles, backslaps and handshakes all around. - They think your car may have been stolen and crashed in a nearby town… very polite and professional. - You forgot your cell phone at home and your friends call 911 to report you “missing”… they’re hella pissed off at you. (this was my neighbor, who came to my house first because the cops had broken into her house, smart move for a young African American lady, TBH) - Went around their barricade to get to your driveway… Cop runs up screaming about how many tickets he’s going to lay on your ass if you don’t turn around right now. - Get pulled over on a Sunday morning for expired registration… it’s a two man team and one of them is in my blind spot, hand on hilt ready to draw down on me. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the police did fine responding to an old lady who can’t get up off the ground under her own power. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/11 "2023-03-28T21:48:45Z")
Well, the police officer who stopped me for speeding on a windy back road the other day did fine, too. I got pissed by particular individuals on the left who were pushing “defund the police”. If the goal was an in-the-moment chant at rallies, “fuck the police” would probably have been more honest and more to the point. If the goal is actual policy change, it’s good if the slogan at least vaguely suggests the desired change to a naive reader. “Black lives matter” works. “Hell no, we won’t go” works. “defund the police” doesn’t. But maybe those specific people were outliers. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/12 "2023-03-28T21:51:21Z")
I’ve heard police officers complain that they’re asked to act as social workers, mental health professionals and marriage counselors, so shifting some funds from the police to social services would seem to be something everyone agrees on. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/13 "2023-03-28T21:51:39Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I got pissed by particular individuals on the left who were pushing “defund the police”. As the only ones who I have ever seen say it as a part of an actual protest were people on the ground reacting to the oppression that they were living under, I really couldn’t bring myself to get pissed at them. YMMV. The only ones I get angry at are the ones still carrying it. > **[Two Monks and a Woman](https://www.alphahome.org/two-monks-and-a-woman/)** > > Recovery for women > [@puzzlegal](#): > > But maybe those specific people were outliers. I’ve yet to see any indication that it is anywhere near mainstream. (outside of the right-wing-scarosphere, anyway) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/14 "2023-03-28T22:19:36Z")
All my interactions with police have been entirely positive, which I am certain is in no way related to me being white and middle class. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/15 "2023-03-28T22:29:38Z")
We have a problem believing in police reform here in Portland because the police union is fighting tooth and nail against police bodycams. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/16 "2023-03-28T23:05:47Z")
Well, we also need to replace the police with someone who will serve the roles of enforcing the law, protecting the public, and pursuing justice. Because the police don’t fill those roles, either. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/17 "2023-03-28T23:26:31Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’ve heard police officers complain that they’re asked to act as social workers, mental health professionals and marriage counselors, so shifting some funds from the police to social services would seem to be something everyone agrees on. When social workers or mental health professionals do outreach and the client starts to get even a little loud and boisterous who do you think they call? In theory it sounds good. In practice they fade to the background unless someone is totally cooperative. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/18 "2023-03-28T23:32:01Z")
I can beat that. I’m a white middle class woman. And the police officer who stopped me for speeding opened by gesturing vaguely at his body cam and informing me that the interaction would recorded. Yeah, i am totally sold that the police create a lot of problems, and that we should reduce their scope. I probably just overreacted to some people i know slightly who had untenable and loud positions. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/19 "2023-03-29T03:10:51Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > shifting some funds from the police to social services would seem to be something everyone agrees on. No organization ever willingly agrees to give up some of its money. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798/20 "2023-03-29T15:00:08Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > No organization ever willingly agrees to give up some of its money. Agree. The police would probably agree that increased presence of social services meshed with their services would be a good thing, but they wont want to pay for that from _ **their** _ pot. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-thread-from-life-hacks-about-defund-police/981798.md?page=2)