#thenewblue
No,
folks, nobody is going to “de-fund” Police Departments across the Nation.
That is just not going to happen. Someone thought it would be appropriate,
given our collective turmoil, to use the word “de-fund” throwing more fuel
on fire. That needs to be corrected.
Could
we try the term “re-fund the
Police”? That more closely describes what is being proposed. By using this new
terminology, I am talking of bringing Law Enforcement back to what it was meant
for. The jobs the Police are tasked with in too many cases are jobs that were
never meant for them to handle. Police are not mental health professionals,
social workers, family counselors, Doctors, EMTs, etc. Their only job is to
enforce the laws of the land in an effort to keep communities safe from the bad
guys.
Why
has our society overburdened Police with tasks no one else seems to want to do?
Let’s rearrange the deck chairs and give our Police a chance at doing the jobs
they were originally tasked with. This would change the culture of Police
Departments and erase the overburdening of a very valuable asset; our Police. There
is way too much tension and mistrust in all quarters by all people. We can
start by reforming the biggest hurdle first. The Police Unions are the driving
force behind all this “militarizing” of the Police. These Union “leaders”
have to learn their place and join the team effort in “re-forming” all Departments. This
task is not rocket science.
Being
from New York, I get too many chances to listen to Pat Lynch, the New York City
PBA Union President. You only have to hear his oral diarrhea once to realize where
the Police culture is right now. And, how Union heads all over the Country are
constantly pushing toward that goal on militarization. It will not be an easy
task to dismantle that culture; it has been with us for decades. I am not
convinced that it takes 38,000 police to keep law and order in New York City. I
am not convinced that any local police force needs to add combat vehicles to
their motor pools.
There
are many Veterans applying and being accepted by Law Enforcement. I know that
police departments do not screen applicants thoroughly for substance abuse and
mental health problems brought home from the battlefield. On the other side of
that coin, the recent applicants who suffer from combat PTSD, TBI, substance
abuse, and other unseen mental health problems tend not to seek treatment. If
they did, they would never qualify for a police position, let alone carry a
weapon. Therefore, they remain silent and fiercely deny any problems in those
areas.
It
is above my pay grade to dive deeper into the details of “re-funding” the Police. There
are many people who know how to work out the details far better than I could
even imagine. I do know that some people will raise the age-old excuse; “it’s too complicated”.
No, it is not complicated. It does get complex. Complex we can do by solving
issues one at a time. We, as a Nation, are good at doing that!
With
our pride and love for this Nation,
we
can all get behind this concept and make it reality.
Yes,
we can give peace a chance; at home first!
