“Different Things To Different People”: How Calls to ‘Defund the Police’ Could Play Out

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4.5 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 12 June 2020

⏱️ 22 minutes

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Summary

As protests continue in the US, some demonstrators are now calling to ‘defund the police.’ And those calls are already having an impact. Cities like Minneapolis, New York, and Los Angeles are considering some major changes to their police departments. We’ll break down what it actually means to defund the police, and why some protestors say that doesn’t go far enough. Also: we’re still in a global pandemic. But many public health experts don’t think protests should stop. We’ll explain why medical professionals say it’s important that demonstrators are still able to protest against racism and police brutality. And finally, you may have seen that viral video from former NFL athlete Emmanuel Acho, host of the new online series, “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.” We spoke to Acho about why these conversations are necessary, and how he plans to grow the series. On this episode, you’ll hear from: Lynda Garcia, Policing Campaign Director for The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, former trial attorney in the Special Litigation Section in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice Kimberly Burke, research fellow at the Center for Policing Equity Dr. Jaime Slaughter-Acey, social epidemiologist and Assistant Professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota Emmanuel Acho, former NFL athlete, current NFL analyst and host and creator of “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.” Let us know what questions you have about what’s going on in the news right now. Email us at audio@theskimm.com or call and leave us a voicemail at: 646-461-6370. You might hear your message on the show. If you want to add theSkimm to your daily routine, sign-up for our free newsletter the Daily Skimm. It’s everything you need to know to start your day, right in your inbox. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Shutterfly.
0:03.2	We are here because in Minneapolis and in cities across the United States, it is clear
0:12.0	that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe.
0:17.4	Our efforts at incremental reform have failed.
0:23.8	Period.
0:25.8	This week, a majority of the Minneapolis City Council did something pretty surprising.
0:49.4	It announced plans to dismantle the city's police department.
0:53.4	Keep in mind that this is the same city that has been under a ton of pressure following
0:57.6	the death of George Floyd on May 25th.
1:00.8	That's when a then-police officer named Derek Shobin pinned George Floyd down with
1:05.4	a knee on his neck for nearly 9 minutes.
1:09.0	He's since been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
1:13.6	According to the most recent data in 2018, the Minneapolis PD had a record high number
1:19.1	of new police misconduct complaints.
1:21.6	Now, after a series of protests both at home and around the world, local officials in Minneapolis
1:27.8	are saying, no more.
1:35.3	So how do you dismantle the police department of a city like Minneapolis?
1:40.6	That part is still TBD.
1:42.8	But the idea of doing this didn't come from thin air.
1:46.5	And the more people hit the streets in protest, and the more we see videos of police responding
1:51.6	to those protests violently, the more we've heard calls that the way the police works in
1:56.1	this country needs to change.
	...

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