Defunding the police should have happened a long time ago

Can money can’t solve all problems? Yes. It is true but money can solve some problems such as housing/food insecurity, community safety issues, and mental health problems. The main reason why there are so many homeless people in Massachusetts is because of the “Inadequate supply of affordable housing” according to mahomless.org. This problem could be fixed by funding more nonprofits, shelters, and affordable housing resources. partners The Boston Police Department (BPD) has a larger budget than other main departments and Defudnboscops.org explains they “regularly overspend millions past the proposed overtime budget”. The money they use is going to waste because it’s not going to benefit our community while other departments in Boston get a fraction of their budget. I think part of the police department’s budget should be reallocated and the money that would have originally gone to their department should go to other departments like libraries, hospitals, wellness groups, and schools. This way the public gets access to better resources and we eliminate more of their concerns about safety and health.

To see why the police should be defunded we have to look at what citizens think. According to GBH news, a former attorney named Andrea James believes “It’s taking all the power and funding that only the police get and reallocating that into what we know would be more effective for public safety and the health and wealth of our communities.” I agree with James because the police are an important part of protecting our community so we shouldn’t take away all their funding, but instead, we should make better use of it. This also makes me wonder why only the police get the funding they get. I mean they’re not the only ones saving lives, we also have doctors and firefighters doing similar jobs with a different payroll. Defunding the police makes sure more of Boston’s employees get better pay for all the hard work and effort they put into our community. Without the Boston Police Department, Boston might not be such a safe place, but by giving them such a large budget it seems like they are the most important department in the city. The other departments in the city like the firefighters and the libraries also have a big impact on the city whether it’s educating people or protecting people.

The differences between departments in Boston are shocking. Based on the website Data for Justice, “The Boston Police Department’s $395 million budget makes up nearly 10% of the entire City of Boston operating budget. In comparison with other City departments, it is 13.84 times the size of the Parks Department, 9.13 times the size of the Library Department, 3.35 times the size of the Public Health Commission, and 1.43 times the size of the Fire Department”. These facts emphasize the big gaps between the departments and show the privilege they get. The police department getting 3 times as much as the public health commission is outrageous. I think this large of a difference is not benefiting our community because we deserve better and without proper funding, we can bring proper change. By defunding the police we close this gap and make sure all departments have better funding. We could also use the money taken out of the police budget to invest in preventing petty crimes and funding schools, libraries, and shelters. For a more direct effect on the community, we could also invest the money into a mental health hotline, wellness groups, better housing, and food resources. In the same article the author explains, “As of the May 2022 City Council hearing on the BPD budget, the department had already surpassed their FY2022 overtime budget by $10 million. The City finds money to fund this police overspending every year—a privilege that is generally not afforded to other city departments.” The BPD is getting more support from the city than other departments which explains why they get paid so much. The 10 million that the city uses to fund the BPD spending problem could have been used more thoughtfully.

Some people might say that the money the police department gets is reasonable because they put their lives on the line. I agree with this, but I also think that they get enough hazard pay for their job. They get paid well for working overtime as well, making them one of the most well-paid city employees. Also defunding the police doesn’t mean no more police officers, it just means their budget is cut so that other departments can get better funding. Like libraries and hospitals. Aren’t firefighters, teachers, doctors, and public workers important as well? Why should the police department get up to 20 times as much as the other departments? This needs to change now. Our community deserves the best and we need a budget that will make this happen.