[michaelmrose]

Few cities reduced police budgets at all certainly nobody in any meaningful way defunded the police and even cities short of officers have funding for additional officers they lack people far more than money.

Also in case you didn't notice police don't do much to protect normal folks from crime. They'll be there 15 minutes after whatever happened happened to file a report if they aren't too busy screwing with law abiding citizens.

Personally Ive seen little help when needed and plenty of harassment.

[mc32]

The movement not only affected budgets but also affected morale. DAs would not press charges, so they didn’t bother with lesser crimes.

Yes, the police harass, sometimes I get harassed but that presence is what puts a lid on crime.

I’ll put up with some harassment in exchange for fewer criminals running free.

We can seek redress from the police, we cannot seek redress from criminals.

The reason we need police is the same reason we can’t have nice things: people can’t self govern in a harmonious way.

[less_less]

> Yes, the police harass, sometimes I get harassed but that presence is what puts a lid on crime.

> I’ll put up with some harassment in exchange for fewer criminals running free.

Maybe you have a specific harassment:imprisonment ratio in mind, but to me this just says "bring on the police state".

> We can seek redress from the police, we cannot seek redress from criminals.

You can seek it, unless of course they kill you. But will you actually find it? Police departments are famous for investigating themselves and finding that they did nothing wrong.

[mc32]

Compared to the alternative? I'll take the lesser of the two evils.

[michaelmrose]

I was harassed repeatedly made to stand with my hands on a patrol car for 15 minutes in case I had developed a record since last week when I was just walking home from my job at night. I was ultimately falsely arrested for using bad language whilst walking away, prepared a reasonable defense then a excellent appeal both of which were ignored. They showed it as dropped then re-raised it when I had left town.

If I was willing to spend 30 days in jail lose thousands of dollars income and spend thousands more I might be able to win it when appeals took it out of that fucked up state.

Realistically I can't do anything about it.

On the other hand they didnt really investigate the 2 attempts to burn down my apartment building attempted homicide x 50 x 2 nor arrest the ex co-worker who tried to murder one of his fellows in a walmart parking lot.

I was left to organize a neighborhood patrol of the premises in the one case and get a psycho to chase me to get him off a guy who can only run by pressing x.

We live in the worst of all possible worlds where police are available to shoot teens but aren't available to do their jobs. If you wonder why you can't hire enough cops wonder no more. It's not liberals pissing in their cornflakes a lot of good folks don't choose to be a part of an obvious shit show.

In closing it's been said those who would give up essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither but more importantly they get neither. A police state isn't a particularly safe place.

[hooverd]

What are you going to do about a police work stoppage, call the police?