Fairfax citizens’ group debates
redirecting police funding
A citizens’ group devoted to
battling racism in Fairfax County, Virginia, held a discussion about
redirecting police funds to other agencies during an online forum Wednesday.
As racial justice protests have
erupted following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and sparked
growing calls to “defund the police,” the Fairfax Communities of Trust
Committee sponsored an online forum which, among other topics, featured a
discussion about the idea of redirecting funds away from police agencies and
toward other government programs.
“We have to rethink what we call
a crime and we have to re-imagine how we respond to the community on public
health issues,” said Claire Castanaga, executive director of ACLU in Virginia.
“We can’t be sending the police
when somebody has a mental health crisis … We shouldn’t be asking the police to
address homelessness by arresting people for vagrancy and trespass. We
shouldn’t be addressing substance abuse disorders by criminalizing our way out
of it.”
Another panelist, a former parole
officer in D.C., struck a cautious note against calls to defund the police,
insisting that everyone should understand the need for policing.
“Of course we need to divert
money from police departments, but I also think about the other side of the
argument where people may say ‘who is going to come when you call 911 in the
middle of the night?'” said Wiliam Ware IV, deputy chair of the Air Force
Clemency and Parole Board.
Ware said some police funding
should be reallocated to social service programs.
“When it comes to mental health
crisis, different social service needs, I think you do have to invest in those
social services within underserved communities, poor communities,” he said.
Other panelists said overhauling
police funding could free up money to address the root causes of some problems
that lead to contact with police, particularly mental health issues.