Law enforcement experts react as calls grow to dismatle, defund police
A panel of law enforcement professionals told 'Fox & Friends Weekend' why defunding and dismantling police departments across the country is naive and dangerous
As calls grow to defund or dismantle police departments in the wake of the death of George Floyd, questions about what that would look like -- especially in cities with high crime rates -- remain.
In a Saturday interview on "Fox & Friends Weekend" with host Pete Hegseth, retired Dallas police officer C'mone Wingo said that imagining a city or town in America without law and order made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
"I just think that, in this case, they need to do a little bit more research," she advised. "Not having police, defunding [and] dismantling a police department, and bringing in perhaps civilians to do the work...What are you going to do when the bad people come out? What are you going to do when the bad people show up? When you call 9-1-1 who is going to come out?"
"I think this is something they really need to look at and they really need to examine closely. Because even if I wasn't a police officer, let me tell you I wouldn't want to live in a city that doesn't have laws," she stated.
Fraternal Order of Police VP Joe Gamaldi pointed out that the percentage of the U.S. population that supports defunding or eradicating police departments is less than 30 percent. In a HuffPost/YouGov poll conducted June 8-10 just 27 percent of Americans favored the move.
That said, some Democratic leaders like Los Angele Mayor Eric Garcetti have committed to defunding their departments and the city council of Minneapolis has moved to replace police with a "holistic" public safety force.
"But, you know, the Minneapolis city council is too busy pandering to the mob to even notice that [statistic,]" Gamaldi remarked.
"And, it’s interesting, when they asked the city council member, ‘What does that look like when I’m being robbed. Who is going to come?’ And, they said, ‘Well, that’s just your privilege talking,'" he added. "Excuse me? That's the privilege of every single American in this country to feel safe -- to be able to call on police and have them come out."
A person holds up a sign advocating for defunding the police as people gather to mark Juneteenth, Friday, June 19, 2020, in St. Louis. Juneteenth is the holiday celebrating the day in 1865 that enslaved black people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. (AP)
Gamaldi also noted that as the debate in Minneapolis's "kangaroo court" rages, so does their crime.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Erica MacDonald, met with Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo and several federal law enforcement agencies to map out a plan to curb a recent spike in violent crime.
"This has gotten completely out of control," Gamaldi asserted. "And, we don't want to hear the pandering from the city council about ‘We are going to offer wrap-around services and holistic approaches.’ No, the community deserves answers. If someone sticks a gun in my face tomorrow, who is coming to help me? And they can't answer that."
Houston Fraternal Order of Police Pres. Dr. Oscar Odom told Hegseth that while a Utopian society is a nice concept, these issues "must be examined through the lens of reality."
"I think that there should be a CompStat for political leaders to say, ‘This is your district area. How many murders have happened? And, how many robberies have happened? How many assaults have happened? And, what have you done?' And, if you haven't done anything, you need to be charged with negligence because you are not doing anything," he said.
Odom maintained that while city leaders are "changing the game" on police officers "midstream," it's their constituents that are suffering.
"People getting robbed, murdered, crime rate -- as stated earlier -- is through the roof [with] over a 400 percent increase in crime. Who is going to pay for this? The citizens? Who is going to pay for this?" he asked. "And now, you see, some of the Democrats are trying to backtrack and say, ‘No, we don't mean defund the police. No, no, we don't mean take the money away.’ Because they see what's happening."
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"I tell them: get rid of your security details and live in your Utopia," he concluded.
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