Majority Of Americans Oppose Defunding Or Abolishing Police, Poll Says

A new poll released by YouGov claims that the majority of Americans are opposed to defunding or abolishing the police? — a call that has arisen in the wake of George Floyd’s death. As reported by Breitbart, 53 percent of registered American voters surveyed said they are against defunding the police, while 24 percent supported the call. As for abolishing the police, 73 percent of those polled opposed the idea, while 11 percent supported the proposal.

Among Democrats, 63 percent of registered voters opposed defunding the police, while 19 percent supported the plan. Notably, progressive Democratic lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been a voice at the forefront of the movement to defund law enforcement.

“Affluent white communities already live in a world where they choose to fund youth, health, housing, etc more than they fund police,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in an Instagram post earlier this month.

According to Ocasio-Cortez, these communities enjoy lower crime rates not because of law enforcement but due to their use of resources, which she claims are used to “support healthy society” and subsequently reduce crime.

In addition to Ocasio-Cortez, fellow Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar has supported Minnesota’s recent decision to disband the police force and create a new law enforcement infrastructure.

Last week, a Morning Consult/Politico poll claimed that voters are split on the proposal to divert funds from police departments and funnel it into communities. According to the survey, 43 percent of registered voters surveyed supported the idea, while 42 percent opposed the plan. When voters were pressed on their support of the “defund the police” movement, just 28 percent supported it, and 58 percent opposed it.

In a piece for Detroit Free Press, Brian Dickerson argued that the “defund the police” slogan undermines the “good intentions” of the movement. In particular, Dickerson claimed that the movement doesn’t want to prevent police from having the resources to stop criminal behavior.

“The vast majority of those protesting George Floyd’s execution don’t want to abandon the rule of law, or to deprive police of the authority and resources they need to enforce it thoughtfully and equitably.”

Dickerson claims that the people within the movement he has spoken to want to reimagine the function of the police, demilitarize urban law enforcement, invest in screening and training procedures, and harness educators, crisis counselors, and community leaders for situations that law enforcement is ill-suited to handle

“But that is not the sort of sophisticated interpretation a stark demand to defund the police encourages,” he wrote.

According to Dickerson, the movement must “go back to the drawing board” and come up with a slogan that can convey the “myriad experiences and priorities” of the “diverse movement” into a few words.