I’ve changed my opinion on police over the past few years. As someone who rides public transit a lot, I’m often scared. My city (Portland) wasn’t so dangerous in the past. I carry a gun now after some bad situations and I wish I didn’t feel the need to.
90% of my interactions with police around here have been positive and I’m disagreeing with you about adding cops not reducing crime.
1000% yes to body cams though.
An ABC OTV analysis of state and local police funding and violent crime data in the U.S. overall between 1985 and 2020 found no relationship between year-to-year police spending and crime rates. (An analysis by the Washington Post found similar results from 1960 to 2018.)
This isn’t a matter of agreement or disagreement, the numbers are there. The number of police, their training, and their equipment have nothing to do with crime rates whatsoever. Cutting police budgets doesn’t increase the crime rate. Getting more cops and giving them better toys doesn’t decrease the crime rate.
Interestingly enough, Portland was almost twice as violent 20 years ago as it is today. The violent crime rate has wiggled in the past few years, but mostly has leveled off after a steep plunge that began in 2004.
I had a friend who lived in Portland who had a very different experience. He lived in the city center near where the protests were taking place and was constantly stopped and harassed by police to show ID just because he was walking to his apartment. I’m sure it may have something to do with the fact that he’s not white though.
