A huge rise in crime in the past month?

That does not appear to be what has been occurring in locations where defunding has taken place. That is certainly what has been implied by the politicians doing the defunding, but it is objectively not what is actually happening. Its a way to cut the budget when tax revenues are down across the board and you can't sell cutting the budget to your constituents politically without a good excuse, like racial justice.

I am arguing in good faith that the definition of defunding that you are using has not been what is occurring. It has been straight defunding. And it appears to mostly be due to cash issues, and not wanting to cut funding from other areas. The money is not going to increase services to the mentally ill, or whatever else you may have heard. The money appears to be going to fill new budget holes in services that already exist, and would have had to be cut had they not defunded the police a little.

I'm not arguing for or against defunding the police. I am simply making the argument that it is being done out of necessity, not for some noble goal. These are the kinds of things that politicians actually have to deal with, and its especially hard when you live in a city (like Portland or San Francisco or even Austin to a certain extent), where income inequality is out of control, and it is nearly impossible to tell your constituents straight up that you will have to cut services.

/r/Dallas Thread Parent