by Dominick Mastrangelo, June 16, 2020

The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus is not a fan of the ideas behind "defund the police" or even the phrase itself.

“I told some friends that’s probably one of the worst slogans ever,” said Rep. Karen Bass, a Democrat, during a livestreamed event with the Washington Post on Monday.

Since the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter organizers and other criminal justice activists have warned against the dangers of a militarized police force in the United States and demanded localities scale back funding to law enforcement.

On Capitol Hill, the idea has been a pointed topic of debate, with some liberal Democrats saying funds should be redirected from police to other social service programs and Republicans warning a lack of money given to departments would result in higher violent crime rates.

“Police officers are the first ones to say they are law enforcement officers, they’re not social workers," Bass said. "What we have done in our country is, we have not invested in health, social, and economic problems in communities. We leave the police to pick up the pieces. In my city, for example, on any given night, we have over 40,000 people who are homeless. Why should the police be involved with that?”

President Trump and top White House aides have balked at the idea of defunding the police. Since the death of Floyd and the resulting protests that have broken out, Trump has cast himself as "the law and order" president and vowed to maintain order on the streets during a time of civil unrest.

“The president is appalled by the ‘defund the police’ movement,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said. "It’s remarkable to hear this coming from today’s Democrat Party."

Presumptive Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden has also rejected the idea of pulling money from law enforcement but has cited a need for major police reform in America.

"No, I don't support defunding the police," Biden said last week. "I support conditioning federal aid to police based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness. And, in fact, are able to demonstrate they can protect the community and everybody in the community."

Bass asked why “police officers have to clean up society’s problems?”

"Why doesn’t a city deal with its social problems so not so much money would have to go to law enforcement?" she said.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/...st-slogans-ever