Many of the events following George Floyd’s death have only perpetuated injustice and led to violence and crime. Thousands of rioters across the country have destroyed private property, looted businesses, attacked police officers, and have even taken the lives of innocent Americans.
Amidst the lawlessness, some on the left are using George Floyd’s death as an opportunity to push for extreme leftist agendas. Many of these agendas distort the truth about the role and efficacy of our nation’s police departments and propose radical “reform” measures that could potentially contribute to more crime and chaos in our country. These radical proposals from the left are based on lies and must be countered with truth.
Here are some of the fictitious claims liberals make against police officers… and the facts to counter them.
FICTION: “American police departments are systemically racist.”
FACT: Allegations of systemic racism are false and harmful.
While it is important to address grievances caused by the nation’s police departments, broad, all-encompassing accusations of racism completely disregard years of intentional training, diversification, and reform in police departments. Police are deployed based upon the location of crime, calls for service, and other data much of which is centered in minority communities. Additionally, research suggests that officers take longer to discharge their weapon when confronting African American suspects compared to confrontations with white or Hispanic suspects. Accusing the country’s police departments of inherent prejudice only feeds the extreme liberal narrative that police departments should be disbanded altogether.
Additional Resources
Policing in America: Lessons from the Past, Opportunities for the Future
Confronting Police Abuse Requires Shifting Power From Police Unions
Reform of Policing: What Makes Sense—and What Doesn’t
FICTION: “Police officers increase the likelihood of violence and crime against Americans.”
FACT: Simply put: the more policing there is, the safer America is.
Take the example of New York City which had its peak homicide rate in 1990 after several decades of pursuing a policing system which pushed officers into the background and relegated them to simply responding to crimes. In 1990, New York City had 2,245 murders. After switching to community-based policing with the goal of preventing crime, New York City has seen a dramatic decrease in both shootings and murders (down to 292 in 2017), resulting in a safer city. This is in large part due to officer training, increased police diversification, and improved policing methods. The fact is that American communities are overwhelmingly safer with police than without police.
Additional Resource
Cops Count, Police Matter: Preventing Crime and Disorder in the 21st Century
FICTION: “To stop police violence we need to defund the police.”
FACT: This argument is simply irrational. America needs police officers to maintain law and order.
Defunding our nation’s police departments would only lead to more crime and chaos and would directly harm the communities who disproportionately suffer the most. Additionally, defunding police departments will only lead to tighter budget constraints and less well-equipped police officers, making it even harder for police officers to do an already difficult and stressful job. However, in instances in which police officers use force outside the bounds of their training or even unlawfully, often union contracts stand in the way of appropriate discipline. Therefore, to stop unlawful police violence it is important that we reform the police union contract system.
Additional Resources
Reform of Policing: What Makes Sense—and What Doesn’t
Best Practices and Innovative Approaches to Address Current Crime Trends (pp. 33-36)
Confronting Police Abuse Requires Shifting Power From Police Unions