With the recent budget cuts in the police department amidst defund the police movement, violent crimes have risen all over the United States. While many criminologists argue that the rise in violent crimes has little do with the budget cuts, the lack of sufficient police on the streets is noticeable. Yesterday, two men hopped out of a black SUV and killed 2 men and severely injure 3 men, the assailant has not been caught.
Another bloody day for Washington DC, as two men from a Black SUV open fired on a group of 5 men, killing 2 and injuring 3. The investigation is ongoing, and the motive of the shootout is unknown. The location of the shootout is also known as the “open-air drug market”. Since it is an ongoing investigation, no names or details of the events have been released.
Chief of Metropolitan police department, Ashan Benedict said “We need to get these people off the street. We need the criminal justice system to be a part of that”. Since the defunding of the police movement, police departments have been facing an acute crisis in funds and manpower. With the rising demand for defunding the police, many police officers have left their job as police officers and recruitment of new police officers has been slow.
While popular beliefs say that the US police invest in military hardware and equipment to weaponize their force against the people. Recent studies have shown that 90% of the funds are used to pay the paychecks and benefits of police officers. Even though the repeal of the 1033 program will make it difficult for the police department to buy military gear directly from the military, it won’t make it impossible since the police as an institution can buy the gear themselves if they can invest funds.
The sheer lack of manpower, public distrust and budget cuts have been affecting the efficiency of the police department all across the United States. The police in the United States are trying to move away from militaristic surveillance techniques being used on civilians, which has brought about a radical change in the existing police system. One notable change is in the training program. They have moved away from Warrior training to a Guardian training program on how to safeguard the people instead of intimidating them.
