As The Black Lives Matter movement has gained traction this year following the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Daniel Prude, so has anti-police thinking. After being shown time and time again the flaws of our current police system, many people have begun to question police policy and demand change. 

Police reformation should occur on a nationwide scale, in such a way that police weapons and tactics are demilitarized, training is improved to handle mental health crises, and police funds are reallocated into communities to help prevent crime before it happens.

Police departments nationwide should be demilitarized. Since the 1990s, initiatives such as the 1033 program, a project providing law enforcement second-hand equipment from the Department of Defense, have allowed police to spend $6 billion on military-grade equipment. Such equipment includes armored vehicles, machine guns, bayonets and grenade launchers. Additionally, the ACLU reported SWAT teams and other drug-related task forces have been losing popularity and usefulness, costing departments thousands of dollars a year and leading to avoidable civilian death.

Police need to be better trained and equipped to handle mental health issues. Police training ranges from 10 to 36 weeks, and inevitably this has led to inexperienced officers with insufficient training for complex situations and the escalation of high pressure situations. According to the Treatment Advocacy Center, mental illness is involved in at least 25% of fatal police shootings, and this number could be lowered with additional preparation.

Finally, police funds should be reallocated into different programs. According to The Cut, redirecting police funds into the community programs like schools, medical centers, rehabilitation centers, housing, and food deserts can actually help deter crime. Government-funded after school programs have been reported by youth.gov to increase the grades of 40% of students by giving children the opportunity to stay in schools and escape poverty and crime.

Police mismanagement and misconduct has gone on too long, and it’s time to demand major changes through legislation.