Letter To The Editor: Defunding Police Is Not The Answer

SEAFORD, NY — This letter was submitted by Chris Carini, a Town of Hempstead council member and former police officer.

To the editor:

The actions of the Minneapolis police officers implicated in the death of George Floyd were sickening and disgusting. The officers were fired and have been criminally charged, and I pray that justice will be served in this humiliating chapter in our nation’s history. In the wake of the shameful incident, demonstrations continue to take place in large cities, suburban areas, both wealthy and economically disadvantaged communities, as well as ethnically and racially diverse neighborhoods. Some of the rallies have been marked by violence, vandalism and looting while others have been peaceful and respectful. As a father, former Police Officer, current local elected official and former civic leader, I believe that perhaps the most dangerous proposal that that has come forth in response to the death of Mr. Floyd is the call to defund the police.

Defunding police in response to a violent and disgraceful death in Minneapolis that involved bad law enforcement officials will have only negative consequences for the public, including the promotion of a chaos and lawlessness. In specific, redirecting funds away from police departments will reduce the amount of Police Officers on our streets, lead to increased 911 response times and make Nassau less safe. During my time on the streets as a police officer in New York City and as a Town of Hempstead Councilman, I have been committed to government’s primary responsibility to keep residents safe and protect property.

In fact, the events of the last few weeks have underscored the need for allocating police resources to preserve our communities as safe and desirable places in which to live and raise our families. Instituting new programs, incorporating technology, expanding community outreach and exploring innovative ideas to improve policing should be priorities, as opposed to slashing police funding.

In New York City, Mayor de Blasio has pledged to shrink the NYPD budget. The City’s Police Commissioner has disbanded the plain-clothes anti-crime units. These units were instrumental in transforming Gotham from one of the most dangerous cities in America to one of the safest. It is illogical and dangerous to disband plain-clothes anti-crime units while homicide and shootings have gone up.

Defunding the police will also take resources away from community policing initiatives at a time when we need to enhance the relationship between police officers and community members. Nassau County learned its lesson on negative impacts associated with making cuts to community policing a few years ago. After cutting Problem Oriented Policing (POP) units, Nassau’s Administration acknowledged the adverse impacts of this ill-conceived policy decision. Indeed, Nassau reversed course and restored its POP units. Clearly, Nassau County’s impressive and responsive police force is one of the reasons that the county boasts one of the lowest crime rates among all major suburban areas in the nation.

The horrible death of George Floyd rightly focused that attention of the nation on the extremely few bad police officers that wear uniforms. However, any call to defund police officers will not effectively address this problem. Rather, defunding the police will usher forth chaos and lawlessness. Police officers keep our families safe and protect our property. Defunding the police is not the answer.

Christopher Carini is Town of Hempstead Councilman for the fifth councilmanic district. He also served 22 years as a police officer with the NYPD, MTA PD and the Port Authority Police Department of New York and New Jersey.