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Police funding, culture, and education

Many activists who advocate for defunding the police call for a complete dismantlement of the police system. However, others call for a partial but extensive dismantlement of the police force. This would allow the city to reinvest in services that can prevent crime in the first place, but also keep a small specialized force on call to handle dangerous or violent cases. Please consider partially defunding the police and reinvesting a large portion of this funding to support public health initiatives and social services.


Additionally, the municipal police department should actively work to weed out and dismantle forms of harmful behaviours, attitudes, and beliefs practiced and reinforced in the workplace. In some cases, police “culture” (especially informal culture) is anchored in toxic masculinity, power, and control. These changes cannot happen overnight, but the city MUST work to discourage and severely reprimand police officers who formally or informally perpetuate this kind of workplace culture.


I’m not sure what kind of education is required to become a police officer, but I feel that numerous classes on power imbalances and interpersonal relations should be an ESSENTIAL part of the curriculum. These courses should specifically focus on relationships between municipal, provincial, and national police forces and BIPOC, and on how law enforcement has historically reinforced colonialism. Understanding Canadian law enforcement’s harmful missteps in the past could foster empathy and understanding in future police officers. I believe including some more theoretical content in the “policing curriculum” may also attract candidates more inclined to think critically and to question the morality of their own decisions when dealing with certain ethically complex situations on the job.


Thank you for listening.

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