In Atlanta, a glimpse of why ‘defund the police’ has faltered – By Patrik Jonsson (CS Monitor) / July 6 2021
Social justice activist Kelsea Bond spends a lot of time canvassing Atlanta’s highest-crime neighborhoods.
Her mission: Convince residents that, if core social and economic inequities were resolved, crime would abate and the city wouldn’t need a police department.
Less than a year ago, amid massive social justice protests across the United States, the idea of fundamentally reducing the role of police rose from nonstarter to distinct possibility.
WHY WE WROTE THIS
As momentum to defund the police dissipates, a view from Atlanta suggests more than a crime-fueled backlash. There’s acknowledgment of the good police do, even amid urgent calls to improve.
Minneapolis voters will in November consider whether to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a new Department of Public Safety, which would include some component of law enforcement. New York cut $1 billion from the nation’s largest police force. Atlanta came within one city council vote of cutting $72 million from its police department.
CONTINUE > https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2021/0706/In-Atlanta-a-glimpse-of-why-defund-the-police-has-faltered
