The Washington Post explores what “defund the police” could mean in practice. “To fix policing, we must first recognize how much we have come to over-rely on law enforcement. We turn to the police in situations where years of experience and common sense tell us that their involvement is unnecessary, and can make things worse. We ask police to take accident reports, respond to people who have overdosed and arrest, rather than cite, people who might have intentionally or not passed a counterfeit $20 bill. We call police to roust homeless people from corners and doorsteps, resolve verbal squabbles between family members and strangers alike, and arrest children for behavior that once would have been handled as a school disciplinary issue. Police themselves often complain about having to “do too much,” including handling social problems for which they are ill-equipped. Some have been vocal about the need to decriminalize social problems and take police out of the equation. It is clear that we must reimagine the role they play in public safety. Defunding and abolition probably mean something different from what you are thinking. For most proponents, “defunding the police” does not mean zeroing out budgets for public safety, and police abolition does not mean that police will disappear overnight — or perhaps ever. Defunding the police means shrinking the scope of police responsibilities and shifting most of what government does to keep us safe to entities that are better equipped to meet that need. It means investing more in mental-health care and housing, and expanding the use of community mediation and violence interruption programs.”
NBC News covers cities exploring alternative public safety strategies, including Milwaukee, Salinas, and Dallas.“People are trying to figure out what kind of society would be possible that doesn’t rely on police and prisons to solve its problems, and that’s a long-term political vision that is important to this movement. But if you look at what people are doing on the ground, it’s taking money for gang enforcement and spending it on after-school programs and youth counselors. It’s about going to budget hearings and lobbying city council members and holding town hall meetings in neighborhood centers.”
Nine members of Minneapolis city council have “vowed to dismantle the city’s police department, which was responsible for the death of George Floyd, and replace it with a new community-based system of public safety… Minneapolis is yet to provide any details of what a new law enforcement system may look like, although Bender conceded there will still be a police department in the short term. She said, however, that most 911 calls are related to medical emergencies and mental health problems, which will be prioritized in funding. In practice, this will probably involve diverting police funding to treatment services such as mental health counselors and drug addiction experts. While a smaller police force may remain, it won’t be the default body interacting with the community at the time of crisis.”
Children living with disabilities are getting left behind as their peers’ worlds start to widen after lockdown. Knowing all this, it’s very tough for me to gauge if any activities — even outdoor ones — are safe for Jo Jo or her brothers, who may put her at risk. “In many ways, these last couple months, when everyone has stayed at home, was the easy part,” said Barbara Saunders, D.O., a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Children with Disabilities and the mother of a 16-year-old with Angelman syndrome. “Weighing when, and how, to re-enter the community without putting your child at risk is so much harder.”
The New York Times reports on “corona cycleways” taking shape across many cities, as public officials try to encourage alternate forms of transportation. “As France eased one of Europe’s toughest coronavirus lockdowns last month, a small army of street workers fanned out across Paris in the dark of night. They dropped traffic barriers along car lanes and painted yellow bicycle symbols onto the asphalt. By morning, miles of pop-up “corona cycleways” had been laid, teeming with people heading back to work… the coronavirus has “shifted the paradigm” in the way people commute, Mr. Najdovski said. “People are waking up and seeing a new bike lane right outside their door.” The experience so far, he added, is that “as soon as a new bike path is laid, people are on it.”