Well, this is an interesting development. The pending defense authorization bill that both parties in Congress support has a provision to, yes, DEFUND THE POLICE.
Specifically, it "prohibits the Pentagon from handing off bayonets, certain combat vehicles, and weaponized drones to state and local law enforcement." (Heather Cox Richardson, Facebook 12/03/2020)
Ending these military-surplus recycling operations by local police departments is a very practical and good thing. They are mainly "toys-for-boys" activities that have no practical use in local policing. But they do contribute to a militarized mentality by local police toward the people their departments exist to "serve and protect". While they are at it, defunding training programs that send local police abroad for *counterinsurgency* training would be a good idea for much the same reasons.
The state National Guards are responsible for responding to the extremely rare cases of actual civil insurrection. They are also trained on relevant skills like crowd control in such situations. Counterinsurgency is a whole different thing than responsible local policing.
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