As Minnesotan I can affirm that Defund the police is stupid

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While George Floyd's death has been a strong rallying point for police reform not every reform is focused on the specifics of his murder because it's not just about him, he's just the person who's murder was the tipping point.

Oh okay I see. Well I feel that the slogan should be 'reform the police' then as that just seems to sound more accurate, where as defund has I think more misleading and negative connotations to it perhaps.

There have been reported incidents of the “blue flu”. This involves calling in sick when they are not, doing the very minimum they are required to do, and deliberately following the rules in such a manner as to be obstructive.

Sounds like some guys who are volunteering to be in the first wave of layoffs.

Well it was said before that the police may have too much money and that defunding is a good thing. But if that's true and they have too much money, how is faking sick days going to help? It's not like the police will stop giving into defunding just so officers will stop faking sick days, or will they, and that is the sickness faking officers' plan?

The purpose behind blue flue is twofold.
1. To go on strike while not officially calling it a strike. In many places it is illegal for public employees to go on strike. Here in New York with the Taylor law public employees who go on strike are docked two days pay for every day they go on strike.

2. To say to the public “You think we need to defunded, see how you like it without us.”

The Federal government cannot enforce State law for very good reasons. We have a system of Federal, State, Tribal, and local powers. However, there are Federal laws (civil rights, for example) that State law enforcement must conform to. The DOJ does get involved with those cases. And if you think national standards would be easy, how would gun laws be unified?

As far as the Federal government being less corrupt, I would point to the last administration for an example. Federal law enforcement and military was used against peaceful demonstrations (and technically, the military should not be used on its own people).

But when you go on strike, you are giving your employers an ultimatum for better condidtions, so why do people care if it's illegal to go on strike? Just do it anyway?

I've never heard of a group of people being prosecuted for going on strike, unless it has happened, where the prosecution was successful and they got a conviction? Giving your employers an ultimatum but only wanting to do it if it's not technically illegal, seems like the very definition of wanting to have your cake and eat it too.

Okay, I am going to preface this by saying that I do not 'like' the police in general, on a personal level - at all.

I am not saying this to try to make people happy or receptive of my ideas - I am simply elucidating here, the reasons why I do not like them on a personal level, but at the same time - I am 100% against the idea of 'defunding the police' via logic.

My first (and only) experience of coming into contact with my local police force on a personal, individual level, was back in 2004, a year before I became severely brain damaged after a botched set of vaccinations.

I was with two people. An acquaintance from high school & my brother who was a sociopath/narcissist for the most part and a trouble causer, who decided to steal a lantern out of his friends garden, who lived not far from my house. He then shoved the lantern into my chest, and if I hadn't of held onto it, it would have fallen & broken on the floor (it had glass as part of its construction).

Anyway, my brothers friend, also a trouble causer, looked out of his window & because they had recently had an argument & were temporarily on 'bad terms' - my brother's friend decided to ring the police about his stolen lantern (even though he [the 'friend'] knew full well my brother would have returned it).

The police arrived and I had no concept of what the police really did, or any anticipation that the following might, could, or would be a result of me holding a lantern that my brother had picked up from his friends garden.

The police arrived in a saloon car, stating that a burglary had been reported in my area & that I was now a suspect, along with my brother & my high school acquaintance. I was bundled into a car, at age 15, having done nothing but placed my hands on a lantern. One of two policemen then proceeded to scream in my Autistic face, like that guy from 'Full Metal Jacket'. I could see the flecks of spit flying out of his mouth & his terrifying anger. He said he would put his hand "through your (my) face" if I uttered a single word. I stopped talking, but he continued screaming.

Anyway, I had done nothing wrong & that was my first & only experience of being detained by the police.

On another occasion, I have witnessed a man being rugby tackled down by a police officer in a city centre, with four different policemen (including a biological woman officer), pressing his head down on the concrete, with him screaming that they were going to cause him brain damage by doing so.

I know of another dude who was basically hung in his cell by a group of police officers and they covered it up.

The police are scary, yes & can be dangerous. No-one is challenging or denying that, or invalidating anyone's personal experiences.

You know what is scarier? Human beings without rules or red tape or police departments. There are good policemen, there are bad policemen. The monstrous policemen, without rules or regulation, basically become a whole lot more monstrous when they don't have to answer to a 'boss' in their police station, or fill out endless paperwork that they have to manipulate carefully & lie about if they step out of line.

If there aren't any police, the end result is that criminals take over very quickly. That enemy you are worried about - without anything to stop them from visiting you and 'wasting' you? You are at their mercy, with nothing between you and the person or people you are afraid of. There is no recourse for criminals without police, because the police are intermediaries between criminals and the general public. Without police, you cannot send a person to court. Without courts & sentencing, there are no consequences for criminal actions.

So yes, there are problems with any police force, some forces' more than other forces' or their departments'.

The answer is to reform police departments by peaceful political action. There is no other way. Pressuring local political representatives & group action via complaints or peaceful protests is the only real course of action for a member of the public. No police force wants an angry mob outside of their station, even if they aren't being violent. That is what civilization is about.

If you 'fight' them physically, you will become a criminal yourself & the police will make you their enemy and then you will live in fear of them, not wanting to further piss them off or receive more penalties from them.

Yes, the police often provoke protestors but getting rid of them is not the answer.

It is emotionally draining, yes, to live in fear of the police. But a society without a governing law & order system is way, way scarier.

This isn't supposed to be condescending or 'know-it-all', it is simply how the world works.