Really defunding the police is a natural punishment for their repeated failures and lack of accountability. If more funding doesn't get better results, and the purse strings don't even get responsiveness to their needs then why bother beyond a bare minimium?
Even a temporary measure to bring them to heel and forcing them to recognize who is really in charge could be useful for relations.
> Even a temporary measure to bring them to heel and forcing them to recognize who is really in charge could be useful for relations.
The police have a trump card. There really are bad people. And force is required to stop them. In protest, they can just slow walk all calls and say this is due to the budget being cut. If crime rises in the cities, people are going to blame the city leadership. Remember that a lot of the “tough on crime” emphasis of the 90’s came because of rising crime in the 70’s and 80’s. People hate chaos.
Even a temporary measure to bring them to heel and forcing them to recognize who is really in charge could be useful for relations.