[throwaway894345]

I think this is ahistorical. Progressives were pretty clear that they believed American policing was fundamentally, irredeemably, and universally racist--that was the whole crux of the BLM movement, and if you believe that, then you aren't going to content yourself with mere reform (if you think police are racist, then you probably aren't going to advocate for "requiring more training for dealing with mentally ill citizens" or similar reforms). Moreover, when moderate Democrats (fearing for the upcoming election cycle) tried to say "what progressives really mean is 'reform'", progressives responded with "no, we really mean defund/abolish".