By a veto-proof majority, the Minneapolis City Council on Sunday pledged to disband its police department and invest in community-based public safety programs.
Amid the nationwide protests that have followed the death of George Floyd, momentum is rising for reforming the criminal justice system, with loud calls to “defund the police” — an umbrella, catch-all term that stands for reducing police department budgets and redistributing those funds to other resources.
In an interview with Fox News that aired Monday, Attorney General Bill Barr called “defunding the police” “dangerous and “wrong.” “The police chiefs, the rank-and-file officers understand the need for change and there has been great change,” Barr said. “I think defunding the police, holding the entire police structure responsible for the actions of certain officers is wrong and I think it is dangerous to demonize police.”
“If you pull back the police from these communities there will be… more harm done in these communities,” Barr added.
