For the black community, law enforcement has long been experienced as “harass and brutalize” rather than “protect and serve.” Human and civil rights advocacy groups have called for state and local governments to divest from police budgets and redirect that money to social services. Now, as thousands of U.S. citizens have been arrested, hit with rubber bullets as well as pepper spray and tear gas, during national protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd by a Minnesotan police officer, the call rings louder. This heightened response to anti-racism demonstrators in cities including Minneapolis, Atlanta, Dallas, New York and Oakland, has moved this call to defund the police to the front of the national conversation.
