The police have always been funded by a bunch of money, but on the other hand, schools don’t get funded enough, which results in club cuts, not enough materials, and teachers losing their jobs. It could be going to different and more important causes around the city like schools, homeless situations, and the community. So when it comes to defunding the police, people want the money to go to schools, to help the homeless find jobs, houses, and recovery, as well as hospitals, and the community. Schools all over the United States have budget cuts every year because of how little they receive in funding; teachers lose their jobs, clubs have to disband, and teachers don’t have enough materials for their students. That’s not right. This stuff should not be cut, it helps students become more engaged academically and lets them have fun as well. When classes and clubs that have to do with music, art, drama, or any creative outlet gets cut, many students will not have a place anymore to express things they enjoy, especially with low-income students. This can have a harsher impact on them as they might not have resources at home to do those things, so they rely on the school to offer them enjoyable classes and clubs.

With all the money the police departments are getting funded, it could be defunded and broken down into different categories to help with different situations. Police officers don’t know how to handle every situation, especially when it comes to a mentally unstable person. This could be resolved by creating new funds for different situations or sections. The police funds can also go to homeless shelters, or programs to help the homeless find homes, jobs, and help them build a new and better life. The money could go towards making more shelters. And making them good ones, not some old run down shelters. As well as helping the people struggling with addictions get the help they need instead of sending them to jail or prison where they won’t get any help at all.

Defunding the police and breaking it down into sections like mental health, child endangerment, endangerment to the people, addiction, etc. would be far more helpful than having just one place to call because there will be officers who know how to handle some situations, so if they break it down into categories it’ll be easier to get help.

Overall, the police funding can go to many other things that would help cities and communities, like schools receiving more funding, putting more money into homeless shelters, and addiction recovery centers. We need to reform the police by starting anew and breaking it down into categories for different situations. This is still a very controversial topic, but why? Why is it a controversial topic when it’s all for helping people? It shouldn’t be. The people want to be heard, but not just heard, they want to be listened to and want the help to start making changes for the better.