“Defund the police” is a slogan that supports divesting funds from police departments and reallocating them to non-policing forms of public safety and community support, such as social services, youth services, housing, education, healthcare and other community resources.
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@8NZGK76Conservative4yrs4Y
Funding needs to be based on the area. Funding also needs to be assigned to social and community programs to help reduce crime and in turn can lead reduced spending foe the police
@8JDBBPB4yrs4Y
No. Maintain funding. Require stricter standards of hiring and intimidate community oversight. Also have the police force reflect community demographics.
@8CBVDPG5yrs5Y
No, but have have police go through a most strict training and mental evaluation to determine their stability and ability to do their job without using bias
@8D4979G4yrs4Y
yes, but to a certain point, like the funding should be decreased not all of it be redirected.
@8JYHPGF4yrs4Y
No, police officers need this money to be trained on how to properly deal with mental health situations, and deal with crime in their area.
@8PTVYLW4yrs4Y
No, police should instead be trained to respond in non-violent situations in order to mitigate police issues
@8Q2GXXR4yrs4Y
Agreed. The main counter-argument with this is that cops get paid highly and it wastes their time. If you consider those social workers are paid around 15k less per year than cops, and if this was implemented, cops would be paid 15k higher a year for their additional abilities to control violent mentally ill patients better and considering that social workers would have to call the cops anyways in that situation, you are actually saving money!
@8NS88GD4yrs4Y
No, give police departments should be given more training but some increased funding should still be given to community based programs.
@8PBTPZ64yrs4Y
the funding should be split between the social and community based programs and the local police departments
@8Q2GXXR4yrs4Y
Agreed. Depending on how though. 50/50 is not going to happen. But 70/30 makes a lot of sense. I also think that we should scoop in funding from social welfare and put it into police and mental health. The left is all about fixing problems like crime before they happen, that's why they like funding mental health. So instead of funding social welfare, let's fund mental health and crime prevention, things that prevent poverty.
@8PHKCQJ4yrs4Y
Funding for social and community based programs should be taken off the workload for police and given their own budget to provide services needed.
@8Q2GXXR4yrs4Y
The number of cops who want that is staggering. Imagine if you spent 50% of your day responding to mentally ill people and therefore having no time to fight or stop major violent crimes like armed robberies, stabbings and shootings. The problem is we are also asking for bodycams and more training, and that requires more funding, which we don't have.
@8PCS6ML4yrs4Y
increase funding for unarmed, community officer intergration while mainatining funding for current police programs
@8Q2GXXR4yrs4Y
Agreed. But where do we get that funding from? Decrease the scandals from both the prime minister funding huge corporations for no reason. Decrease social welfare and put them into crime prevention so we can prevent poverty, creating no need for social welfare. Liberals have a certain line of thinking that sometimes conflicts with eachother. I honestly do think I have liberal values but agree with the conservative party's policies (not on the environment though).
@8LQJ4VFNew Democratic4yrs4Y
No Just direct the funds you ALREADY HAVE into a LONGER POLIECE COURSE
with EDUCATION and police officers, if for some reason they dont already, should have MANDITORY psychiatric evaluations. ESPICALLY after shooting their fire arm for WHAT EVER REASON. Keep your workers safe and your leaders clean please so we can all be safe please. Ty
@8Q2GXXR4yrs4Y
I understand you are coming from an extremely empathetic place and this is what most misunderstandings stem from. Police officers are actually treated like criminals after firing their firearms, no matter how justified it is. Once they are relieved from the scene, their gun and badge are taken away and they are suspended under unpaid leave. No, it's not a vacation. During your leave, you will be interviewed multiple times and have to fill out many legal documents. Even for the most justified of shootings, there is still a very long and thorough investigation by IA and the SIU in Ontario, and you are suspended until your trial which can take years.
@8JZQ98F4yrs4Y
All members of law enforcement should all be required to wear body cameras at all times during their shift. Any discriminatory or violent behavior should result in immediate termination without severance. Increase funding for training to reduce police misconduct, racial and religious bias. Mental evaluations should be conducted by-yearly and supervisors should be held under greater scrutiny. It is a privilege to serve the community and should be honored as such.
@8Q2GXXR4yrs4Y
I agree that most law enforcement members should wear bodycams (that requires more funding). But you also have to consider detectives and internal affairs officers don't necessarily need to have bodycams. SWAT officers also don't wear bodycams because it reveals their tactics. Violent behaviour does not exactly make sense. Most use of force above verbal warnings is 'violence'. You also have to consider that officers are in high adrenaline situations and might use more force than needed. If you fired everybody for that there would be no cops. I REALLY AGREE with your last… Read more
No, increase training and increase funding for social and community based programs
@8Q2GXXR4yrs4Y
Increasing training = increasing funding for police. Most people will say decrease government debt, but when they are asked if they want to decrease funding on a certain area, they always say no, keep it. It's important that we have both, and both are severely underfunded. But we are going to have to make some sacrifices if we want government spending to be sustainable. So we either get more training and bodycams for cops while reducing the number of cops, their wages or the quality of their firearms, vehicles or uniforms, or we get more mental health units while defunding the police on… Read more
@8GKYNSM4yrs4Y
redirect funding to police training about racially diverse communities
@8Q2GXXR4yrs4Y
“redirect funding to police”
Training cops to be not racist is assuming cops are racist. Anti-discrimination training is hated by cops and taxpayers because all you're doing is throwing money for a cop to sit in front of a slideshow telling him not to shoot innocent black folks. We could just weed the racist cops out in the hiring process, and redirect that discrimination funding to bodycams or mental health.
@8FY4NBW4yrs4Y
Police department funding should be left in the power of municipal governments.
@8Q2GXXR4yrs4Y
Not if you have a crazy city council in Toronto who got rid of 30 percent of the police force in March which created all-time highs in crime. But in general I do agree it should be left for municipal governments. Just had to smash some of our politicians today.
@98RPW682yrs2Y
I think funding should be distributed amongst the police department and social/community based programs. A collaborative approach should be developed to better respond to a variety of needs in the community.
@8QKWLTB4yrs4Y
I believe new agency could potentially be added, you might call it the Canadian Emergency Worker Education Bureau or something of those that would be in charge of allocating funds and setting a curriculum for all emergency workers such as police officers, firefighters, EMT workers so that the education might be of a higher quality and standardized nation wide. Their jurisdiction would be handling trainees. Once the individual has graduated they leave the CWEB and enter their preferred field. This would allow us to take some money from current services and make sure the funds are used for training and education specifically.
Yes, redirect SOME funding toward better social programs for non-violent offences.
@8GCG6CP4yrs4Y
This is a greater issue in the States. For forces such as the RCMP, officers receive more specialized training to deal with social and community issues as well.
@8KG75SD4yrs4Y
No, diversify the training which police constables get, and create more community based initiatives and teams to foster healthy relations between the people and police.
@8CRJFFB4yrs4Y
More money should be spent on police rehabilitation and screening so police are better equipped and know what to do in certain situations
@8C8JYY85yrs5Y
No but police need specialized training in mental health and more training in non-leathal force
@9F9SY9W1yr1Y
Yes, but don't take only a portion of the funds instead of all or a big amount of it.
@9F4F8G82yrs2Y
No, but that funding should be lessened while being focused towards training, regulations, and removing corruption
@9F42NPP2yrs2Y
Depends on how effective and influential a social and community based programs are. It also depends on how much new technology and systems the local police need
@9F2MK7G2yrs2Y
Remove community policing powers from the RCMP, community policing should be provincial and local responsibilities
@9DWFG682yrs2Y
Yes. Fund real education programs, de stigmatize and legalize drugs responsibly and prioritize prosecuting real criminals for violent offenses
@9DKJPVNConservative2yrs2Y
No, but make sure that there are more types of professionals who can respond to critical situations without the need for fatal weaponry, but lean towards non-fatal defense tools like tasers & mace.
@9CBTBW32yrs2Y
Channel funds based on data collected regarding actual efficacy of reducing recidivism instead of current metrics.
@8H6JLM34yrs4Y
Yes, reduce the police budget and allocate police evenly across the city. Put funds into stopping sex trafficking, gun violence, etc. Stop over policing some areas over others.
@B3HN74R 1wk1W
This is very vague and it's not clear what it's asking. I do not believe in completely abolishing the police, but I also believe they need much less funding. This still need some funding, they can't exist without it.
@B3HJK9R1wk1W
Yes, but for non-violent calls. Funding should also be allocated to provide police with more in-depth training on crisis intervention and trauma-informed de-escalation tactics.
@B3H825K1wk1W
I believe we could redirect some of that funding while also implementing stricter guidelines for becoming a police officer. I do not believe we should significantly defund the police as that creates a dangerous environment.
@B3GFMP71wk1W
No- just increase the funding to social and community based programs without affecting the police funding
Focus more on solving the root cause and prioritize nurturing the youth to prevent crime from even happening.
@B3FVXLV1wk1W
If the police can prevent regular stabbings and shootings, then I think they deserve the funding. However, the news suggests otherwise.
@B3FV4ZD1wk1W
I personally think police get paid large amounts of money… maybe adjusting their pay increase each year, and ensuring the money is being allocated to beneficial community programs within the city.
@B3FQZNN1wk1W
No, this is not even about the crime. It goes in the direction of strengthening the military potential of Canada. People who are trained to respond to violence are an additional asset.
@B3FD2RL1wk1W
Yes, there has been a shift of funding from health, mental health, social services while policing funding has increased. Partnerships between these services needs to increase and appropriate personnel should deal with the issues. Police need to be mental health first responders
@B3F2G6X 2wks2W
Funding should be re-allocated to include not only standard training for police but also de-escalation training, thorough psych evaluations and community support workers for non-violent calls.
@B3DWW6J2wks2W
I agree that both need to exist to help the community, they should look at taking from other sources rather than the Police force.
@B3DJSR92wks2W
Not all of the funding but there should be more going to social and community based programs and less to the police
@B3C952M2wks2W
Police should be funded but more money should be allocated to social programs for non-violent crimes
@B3BG8LB2wks2W
Funding for social programs is important but should not be conditional of the funding or defunding of the police. These two pieces need to work together and complement one another.
@B39DTY72wks2W
No, police need better training and more internal investigation to ensure there is minimum corruption.
Not necessarily. Community based organizations should be better funded and cooperative programs be a part of all police and community based interactions. They can do more together than apart.
@B386JBW 2wks2W
Over policing doesn’t stop crime or fix the crime rate. There are issues with immigration, the judicial system ect. This is an important issue, but it’s more complex than the answers provide
@B37ZXR22wks2W
No, this has been attempted in the recent past and was a colossal failure. Invest in better training and incentivize the career so the quality of applicants naturally increases.
@B37ZK3K2wks2W
Community programs are good and something we should strive for but not at the cost of defunding local police
@B36TY682wks2W
Police should not be completely abolished, but if they are receiving significantly more funding than social and community-based programs, some money should be reallocated towards these programs.
@B36RD532wks2W
it depends on what programs they are being funded for because the police should also recieve some funds for the protection they prodive aswell
@B36R5TY2wks2W
I personally think that there should be a balance, funding towards law enforcement in society is crucial, therefore the funds necessary to maintain law enforcement should remain dedicated to this cause. Funding for community based programs should not be taken out of law enforcement funding.
@B35Q7K53wks3W
Increase funding so police can do their jobs BUT provide teaching and rules to eliminate bias that leads to abuse of power against minority/native communties. Incident reviews and repurcussions should be determined by an outside source to prevent cover-ups
@B35MZKS3wks3W
Put funding in the right place in policing. Stop funding pointless stuff like horses in the police departments. Focus on taking down sex traffickers, human traffickers, murders, rapists, terrorists, etc.
@B35G8QW3wks3W
No, however I believe that police should be trained better and have more non-lethal weapons at their disposal. For example in the UK every day police officers are not armed with guns and they have a special armed unit for rare cases.
@B355JWJ3wks3W
Police should partner with mental healthcare and addiction services. Funding should be split where extra resources are needed
@B349N9V3wks3W
No, and increase funding and training for police to recognize when an event requires a mental health professional and allow them access to work with those professionals.
@B33XXJT3wks3W
No, pair each Police Officer with a certified Mental Health worker. Train police in Mental Health deescalate.
@B33R9GVNew Democratic3wks3W
Dont redirect all of it, but yes up the funding for social programs that will decrease the need for police
Better training. More diversity to reflect community. Physical fitness tests every 5 years. More community policing instead of reactive
@B32LMFG3wks3W
I think that we should split it evenly unless really needed, since some police departments get more funding then needed
@B32CB8K3wks3W
I think there should be social programs but police cannot go away, crime will increase if we do this
@B327GY23wks3W
Get rid of the rcmp and have the provinces make their own police forces with federal subsidies. Create a modest size highly train federal police force to assist all provincial police departments. Create a military police force modelled of France’s National Gendarmerie to combat high crime area. Also rent the forces to countries with high gang and cartel activity for profit
@B324X4F3wks3W
There should be a balanced amount of funding for both police departments and social and community based programs.
@B323YJR3wks3W
Local police should be better integrated into community activity, possibly using some funds for community outreach programs led by the department, and working with neighborhood watch groups
@B323CG43wks3W
Yes, partially, the police still need some level of funding but funding other social and community based programs would ease some of the burdens and minimize incidents of police violence and abuse of power
@B2ZZ8YS3wks3W
Some funding should be redirected so that nonviolent calls can be safely handled without a militarized police presence
No, however some funding should be directed at training police to deal with the mentally ill and other social situations to help reduce conflict
@B2YZZ9TConservative4wks4W
Yes because many community programs could benefit lots of people and there are a lot of cops that seem to be more worried about the people on the road and vehicles rather than the bigger criminals who rob, assult, kill, etc. From my experience there are more cops trying to catch people speeding or finding broken tailights than trying to catch criminals that are way worse then the people who speed so I feel that if they aren't going to worry about the bigger criminals then they shouldn't get all of the funding money.
@B2X8V2K4wks4W
No, But there should be better police training on how to deal with a situation without the use of violence, but police are needed to maintain order and provide safety and protection.
@B2WMF2R4wks4W
Downsize police forces and increase funding for them to respond to threats of physical natures. Replace all other calls with a community/mental health approach to de-escalation and referall to resources.
@B2WM99B4wks4W
he funding should be split between the social and community based programs and the local police departments fairly.
@B2W3G2B1mo1MO
i believe there should be an off shoot of police officers who are sent alongside in case of a persons
crisis. though i do believe both parties should be armed with lethal and non lethal tools and devices in case of a risk to the officer and crisis handlers life .
@B2VWCWJ1mo1MO
No, but increase funding for social workers, and mental health professionals that work alongside police.
@B2VW5DK1mo1MO
The police end up spending to much time and man power on situations that would be better handled with social work.
@B2VVFRQ1mo1MO
increase funding and training and increase social and community based programs. require local police departments to enforce traffic laws.
@B2VP4JZ1mo1MO
funding should not be redirected, but there should be more funding available for social and community based programs on top of police budget
@B2VMYZP1mo1MO
Police enforcement is definitely necessary. But de-escalation training and training on non violent interventions are necessary
@B2VF4BF1mo1MO
Yes, and increase funding and training for unarmed community based responders for non-violent calls.
Police should be split between law enforcement and social workers. Expecting one profession be tasked with both is unwarranted and dangerous
@B2VBCWQ1mo1MO
While I believe in supporting police departments for public safety, there is also a need to invest in social programs like mental health services, education, and community outreach, which can help address root causes of crime.
@B2TV7GG1mo1MO
Add social assistant workers to help police and train police helpers like we did for different grades of nurses. So add more categories of policing.
@B2TKP2Q1mo1MO
Yes. However, they should use the funding to increase interest for the public. For example, events for younger children, a sessions to teens to give a quick brief on being an officer, etc.
@B2SXRKS1mo1MO
There should be incread funding for both local police departments and social and community based programs
@B2SWHMS1mo1MO
No, but the training, certification and psychological testing should be improved to require a higher standard
@B2SSCR31mo1MO
rather than take from the police abolish department waste and put more money into communities separately
@B2SS7BF1mo1MO
Add funding for social programs, to reduce crime. Then more funding can be redirected from police services
Yes, it should go back to the community based programs for events related to the police (opportunities for youth to have subtle experience to being a part of the police, opportunities for youth to learn about being an officer in classes, events relating- things to get people interested in the police department in a way that does not make them appear as scary, especially for smaller communities)
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