Our Voices: We need more options and services for young people. But we also need police.
After George Floyd’s death by the police and the beginning of the worldwide movement against racism and police brutality, the movement to defund police departments has gained traction.
In previous high-profile police killings of Black Americans, people have called for police reform, but many are now pressing for more radical modification by defusing the police department and envisioning a new form of what public safety is all about.
The majority of Americans believe that there should be some changes to policing. The measures to reform and how we as a society can go ahead and improve things have generated widespread debate and conflict. A simple understanding of “defund the police” would be to shift resources away from policing and provide them to other organizations financed by the local municipality.
As a student and an individual who lives in a community where there are a lot of African-Americans and people of color, I see the idea of defunding the police as something that can both negatively and positively impact our community. I hate saying the phrase “Defund the Police.” I do not like that term. In my opinion, it’s a horrible tagline with excellent ideas inside it.
Removing police from high-crime communities is going to have a big effect on these communities. Crime will go up. It’s simple logic.
I agree that there needs to be more money allocated to social services, youth service and mental health. This is a good thing, especially when it is within communities of color and impoverished communities.
Nowadays, I see a lot more of my friends that I grew up with joining gangs and hanging around people that are not positive contributions to their lives. If we are able to open up community centers or youth action groups in the community, so that kids will be drawn to more positive things, that’s good. I don’t think the money to fund these programs in Lexington should come from the funding of the police.
Many people today want to be cops because they want to help people and want to make their communities safe. But if fewer people going through the process to become officers, they can’t help their community. Many cops are being targeted or hated within our very own community. As reported by LEX 18’s Leigh Searcy in May, 64 Lexington police officers left the department last year, compared to the average yearly departure rate for Lexington police of 48.
Even when talking to a student recently, they told me that they are not so open to telling people today about their father being a cop, when they used to be proud that their dad was a cop. I’ve heard students even call their school cops mean and horrible things, which is awful, because these people are just trying to protect and serve students at the school. I have never said mean or horrible things to my school cops or any other cops, but I think we all need to be open to dialogue between students and school cops and even cops and the community that they serve.
Does open dialogue create a sense of trust and conversation? I just hope we have people who can respect one another and try to have meaningful conversations about finding solutions and ways to help our community grow and prosper.
Lordina Mensah is a student at Steam Academy in Lexington and a Ghanaian American.
This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 9:23 AM.