Black Survey Respondents on Police Spending

The TheGrio/KFF [Kaiser Family Foundation] Survey of Black Voters (conducted Aug. 24 to Sept. 5) asked respondents,

Thinking about police departments in your area, do you think spending on policing should be increased, kept about the same or decreased?

The answers: 17% supported decreasing funding, 48% supported keeping it about the same, and 34% supported increasing it. As I noted about a related but different survey earlier this year, of course, this doesn't tell us what police should be doing—or, more importantly, how they should be doing it. But it does bear a bit on the "defund the police" controversy, even if "defund" is viewed merely as reducing funding, or decreasing "spending on policing" to route the savings to other programs.

Thanks to Prof. Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) for the pointer.

Comments

[WuzYoungOnceToo]

Some white "progressives" will be along shortly to explain that "Nobody but Republicans talks about defunding the police" (in spite of having been repeatedly proven wrong about that).

[BravoCharlieDelta]

Then the Democrats at the DHS will determine that "origins of police defunding" talk contributes to terrorism risk and will coordinate with the social media companies to censor all references to it.

[Krychek_2]

I wouldn't say that "nobody but Republicans talks about defunding the police" but I would say there is far less support among Democrats for defunding the police than Republicans make out.

Here in Florida, the Democratic nominee for the US Senate, Val Demings, is a former Orlando police chief who, as a member of the US House, has gotten lots and lots of federal money for the police. That has not kept her Republican opponent from running ads claiming she wants to defund the police.

[WuzYoungOnceToo]

I wouldn’t say that “nobody but Republicans talks about defunding the police”

But many here have...repeatedly.

but I would say there is far less support among Democrats for defunding the police than Republicans make out

And yet there are plenty who have expressed such support, as well as multiple Democrat-run municipalities that actually implemented it to one extent or another. Then again, my comment was about those claiming that "defund the police" is a right-wing invention, and I didn't say anything about some politicians not using (honestly or otherwise) as a campaign issue, so your response is a bit of a straw man.

[Krychek_2]

At the extremist fringe you can probably find support for just about anything, but defunding the police is not a mainstream Democratic Party issue. There has been no movement in the Democratic-controlled Congress for anything that could even remotely be considered defunding the police. Biden opposes defunding the police. No Democratic-controlled state legislature has done so. You're right that a few municipalities dabbled in it, and most of them have abandoned it.

So it's probably an exaggeration to say that defund the police is entirely a right wing invention, but given the lack of support it has among mainstream Democrats, most of the GOP's statements on it are dishonest political posturing. The Democrats could completely sweep everything and police funding would be in no real danger.

[bevis the lumberjack]

That’s stupid. There’s a commercial running in Texas that shows a video of the Democratic candidate for governor saying how pleased he was to see BLM mod others advocating for defunding the police. Beto isn’t mainstream? Lol.

It was popular among a plurality at least of Democrats before it became obvious how monstrously unpopular it is.

If you’re gonna keep defending your side’s stupidity you’ve got no moral ground to criticize that of the other side, because your criticism has no basis in reality.

[Krychek_2]

Bevis, google is your friend. According to a five minute google search, the ad you reference is being run by Greg Abbott, and quotes out of context a comment by Beto O'Rourke in which he said that financial priorities needed to be re-examined, which is not quite the same thing as supporting defunding the police.

O'Rourke has since stated several times that he does not support defunding the police.

You're dumb enough to believe a Greg Abbott ad, I can't help it.

[bevis the lumberjack]

I hate Greg Abbott. Show me where I’ve defended him.

Just because Beto claims it’s out of context doesn’t mend it actually is. That guy changes opinions to suit what he believes his interest to be as frequently as Kim Kardashian changes shoes.

Call me stupid and you believe every bit of drivel that comes out of politicians mouth on the left. How about The Squad? Were they just kidding when they were touting it?

[Sarcastr0]

Seems like you don't care about the factuality of the ad; you've got priors on Beto, and that's what you're relying on.

Having an opinion is fine (I actually agree with you re: Beto talking out of both sides of his mouth), but then don't offer Abbot adds for the truth of the matter they assert if it's more an 'untrue but accurate' situation.

[Krychek_2]

The squad is part of that extremist fringe I was talking about earlier. They do not speak for mainstream Democrats and the chance of them becoming mainstream within the Democratic Party is pretty remote.

[bevis the lumberjack]

So AOC is an extremist? You’re actually going there?

[David Nieporent]

I mean, yes.

[WuzYoungOnceToo]

So it’s probably an exaggeration to say that defund the police is entirely a right wing invention

In fact it would be a lie.

Now, let's do Biden's repeated claim that the Rs are going to eliminate Social Security and Medicare.

[Krychek_2]

Sure, let's change the subject.

We first need a citation that Biden actually said that. I spent ten minutes on google and didn't find anything. I did find this:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/11/01/fact-sheet-by-the-numbers-millions-of-americans-would-lose-health-care-coverage-benefits-and-protections-under-congressional-republicans-plans/

Which is not the same thing as saying that the GOP will eliminate social security and medicare. What he said is that the GOP would be willing to put those programs on the chopping block every five years, which in fact they are.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

The Republicans can't run on overt bigotry anymore (at least, not beyond the most disgusting backwaters), so they must find something.

Carry on clingers. So far and so long as your betters permit, anyway.

[David Nieporent]

I wouldn’t say that “nobody but Republicans talks about defunding the police” but I would say there is far less support among Democrats for defunding the police than Republicans make out.

Right. The people who actually want to "defund the police" are far left wing activists who don't speak for Democratic officials.

I would add to what you said that there is far far far far far less actual defunding of the police than Republicans make out. In fact, it essentially hasn't happened anywhere, but Republicans still pretend that it's the cause of increased crime.

[I Callahan]

Uh, what country do you live in, Dave? It DID happen in Seattle, Portland, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and a number of other MAJOR American cities.

Essentially hasn’t happened anywhere? My a$$.

[David Nieporent]

You make my point. Right wingers claim that it happened. But it didn't. Here, for instance, is St. Louis:

A year ago, a movement of organizers hoping to curb police violence and transform public safety claimed a major victory – helping Tishaura Jones get elected mayor of St. Louis.

In her first week, she signed an executive order to close loopholes in the civilian oversight process of police misconduct investigations and redirected $4 million from the police overtime budget to hire social workers within the police department, increase funds for affordable housing and other proposals critics lump into the idea of “defund the police.”

[...]

But reality quickly set in.

A group of city aldermen succeeded in using federal COVID relief funds to put $5 million back into the police overtime budget

So, in other words, the police weren't defunded. There was a minor reduction — 2% — in one portion of the police budget, that never actually took effect and was quickly reversed. No honest person calls any portion of that "defunding" anything.

[David Nieporent]

Indeed, the whole accusation is ironic, because the discussion in 2020 went like this:

Radicals: "Defund the police!!!!!"
Republicans: "Democrats are soft on crime! Look at this crazy idea: they want to eliminate policing!"
Democrats: "No, no. 'Defund the police' was just a slogan. We don't really mean that we want to eliminate the police; we just want to redirect a small portion of their funding to social services."
Republicans: "You're lying! That's not what you meant! You want to eliminate the police!"

[Time passes; no police departments are eliminated.]

Republicans: "See? You redirected a small portion of their funding to social services! You supported defunding the police!"

[Reallynotbob]

Well put.

[I Callahan]

Because these are two different concepts. Because someone is for adding money to her department is a totally different thought than thinking other departments should lose theirs.

[Krychek_2]

Except she's said nothing to indicate she thinks other departments should lose theirs. In fact, she's gotten a lot of federal money for other departments too.

[Reallynotbob]

I find this statistic not at all surprising. Peaceable mothers and fathers in communities plagued with violence or other crime tend to support policing in general, regardless of race. That is not the same thing as believing the police are safe, behaving properly, or acting fairly. "I want law enforcement on my street" and "The police department here is untrustworthy" are rational concurrent opinions.

[CJColucci]

This is supposed to be surprising to whom, exactly?

[Jimmy the Dane]

"defund police" was so 2020. No one is talking about that anymore.

Anyhow, we know what the root cause of ALL crime is though - GUNS - and we can blame the Supreme Court for that.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Lathering hayseeds;
the clinger law prof tossing
red meat to his rubes.

[TwelveInchPianist]

?? Given that that's exactly what happened on other issues...

[BravoCharlieDelta]

Don't think for one minute that he is aware of that.