Media got me thinking about the topic of defunding the police that had been the battle cry back at the beginning of June. The media has not been covering it a lot. Unsure if the groups that began the call are still pushing for it. Another there might be a topic the Cleveland, OH area is not currently covering. (I realize the COVID numbers have increased.)
Two write-ups that gave for me a satisfying balance to the sunject. The Washington Post is an opinion piece from Editorial Board on July 16 and the Washington Examiner by Kaylee McGhee, Commentary Writer on July 10.
‘Defund the police’ is as much about re-imagining public safety as it is about money
This opinion piece seems to present the re-imagined departments and that each state would look different. I guess my concern with all this is we have City Councils throughout our country and probably the world that cannot agree on road repair and government building staffing. How are they going to re-imagine a world that has always had police and a need for them? How are they going to re-imagine also a department that is already short-staffed and not solving the crime?
It is mention that school disputes get a well-trained counselor instead of a police officer. I do not know about anyone else, but our school has slowly removed counselors due to money. Personally, in the case of our family, my daughter was bullied, and having counselors and teachers monitoring made it worse. Remember, in a parent-teacher/counselor conference, was told my daughter’s bullying would not happen as much if she was not as emotional. This thinking from the professionals they want to replace our police?
What if we gave police officers better hours, more counseling support, and more vacation days. Maybe sabbaticals like teachers get so they can de-stress. The counseling industry would require a change in training if you want them to replace the police. Are we going to teach them disarming techniques when they cannot talk down a drug addict who has mental health? Are we going to address why this addict may have chosen drugs, indeed? Their situation could be they began treating mental health with alcohol and then street drugs instead of pharmaceuticals due to not knowing? Now they cannot afford the medicines or doctor’s appointments or family history of not accepting mental health? These are my thoughts on this one, let’s see what the other one has for ideas.
What I found fascinating is the articles in a broad stroke mirror each other. Did find an example of a citizen who found a homeless person on his front step call a community service person who is supposed to handle the homeless and got no answer but called the police, and it was processed quickly. That is one example of the over hall that a segment of our society is calling for needs to look at what is already in place and why it is not working. What if we looked at training police officers that due to injury can no longer be on the force, Train them as counselors make use of the training maybe change their uniform, so those going on soft calls do not look as threatening. Another aspect is how police are perceived. Do people even know who to call for what problems? Personally, our car and house egged many years ago my husband called the police. Where we supposed to call someone different, I do not know?
This writer also spoke about the consequences of Minneapolis neighborhood residents had agreed to not rely on law enforcement, and crime has increased, which on a human perspective that makes sense. On a simple example, you see that mom and dad leave the children at home, and they have friends over that destroy the house.
What got me on this track again is a news clip from our local news station that got me thinking that I do not know if it is like this everywhere. The detective staffing levels are lower than they are supposed to be by federal standards. Even before all this current hoopla. If our police are understaffed, why?. What is life going to look like if the loudmouths get their way on instant defunding? We need to look at retraining, and supporting have clear cut policies in place for the police and the support units. No matter how that looks in the future, but it will not be instant.
Cleveland leaders to hold hearings on homicide detective staffing level concerns.
For me, I’m rather proud of myself that after a little bit of research and reading, my anxiety is minimal. Again I cannot change this except at the voting booth. Also, be aware of where and who to call when there is a problem. Which at the current plan is the town hall main number or web page. Suppose worse comes to worst the general police number, not the 911 and ask them. At least for the noncritical things. Critical being physical attacks, robbery, and etc. Media, life, and people can present an oversaturation of information or opinions. Trying to find a balance between worry and anxiety is the trick of survival. Oh, maybe that is the meaning of life finding peace between concern and panic.
Have a great day. I am considering creating what I find in the media as a daily post since it is becoming rather crowded at the end of my weekly review. I will see how this works for me. When I watch the news, I find myself wanting to comment but find I want to research multiple facets of information.
Random Observations 