With the midterm elections just around the corner, Democrats are determined to put their “Defund the Police” ideas aside to try and convince voters that they aren’t anti-police as much as they are pro-criminal.
The GOP attack vector that accused Democrats of siding with criminals on defunding the police was hugely successful. Ever since the 2020 elections, Democrats have been running away from their previous anti-cop rhetoric and now embrace a modified “law and order” agenda with not much law or order, if the truth were told.
But any bill that has the approval of a radical socialist like Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty can’t be very good news for police or people who depend on cops to keep the barbarians from the gate.
The package — which will include four bills — is designed to fund recruitment and training for police departments across the U.S., many of which have complained of underfunding and understaffing during a recent rise in violent crime. But, critically for liberal Democrats, it also includes new language on police accountability, which had become their red line after Congress repeatedly tried and failed to pass any other meaningful law enforcement oversight in recent years.
The House is expected to vote on the package on Thursday, one of its final days in session before the November midterms. The four bills focus on grants for police training and recruitment; addressing mental health crises; preventing community violence prevention and solving gun crimes. Two bills from moderate members Reps. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) were dropped from the package as part of the negotiations.
“After significant, deliberate negotiations, we are pleased to share that… the bill will include a number of reforms to ensure funds are used to support smaller police departments, to invest in de-escalation and other important training, and for data collection and mental health,” Reps Ilhan Omar and Jayapal told their caucus according to Politico. It’s significant that two additional bills sponsored by two of the few “moderate” Democrats didn’t make it into the final package.
Setting up mental health units sounds like a great idea, but it’s how the concept will be fleshed out that matters. Will the “mental health officers” be armed? Most of us would agree that compassion toward those who are in a mental health crisis is wise and necessary. But if a mentally ill person comes at an officer with a knife or a gun, what choice will an officer have?
The presumption is that a mental health professional can talk people in crisis off the ledge or convince them to give up their weapons. That’s not always true. And when it isn’t, cops die.
Coming out of their weekly lunch meeting Wednesday, members of the Congressional Black Caucus hailed the changes they were able to make to the policing package, such as constraints on the funding and limits on the size of police departments eligible for grants.
“If the rule goes through then tomorrow we’ll have a vote on the justice bills,” Beatty said in a brief interview before Democrats reached a deal. “I think the Congressional Black Caucus has done an amazing job of being out front.”
In other words, the Democrats are doing the absolute bare minimum to give the appearance of “doing something about the problem.”
So, no “Defund the Police.” The Democrats’ battle cry now is “Only Fund the Police Enough To Make It Look Good.”
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