English mathematician, physicist and astronomer Sir Isaac Newton is considered one of the most influential scientists in history. In 1687, he published his laws of motion, which included the observation, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” The same cannot be said about human actions. The problem is, depending upon the action taken, the reaction may well be disproportionate. As such, prior to acting, one should always weigh disproportionality as a possible outcome.
Our actions always have consequences. Many times those consequences are foreseeable, such as exceeding the speed limit while driving and risking a ticket for doing so. But more often than not, one acting in the heat of the moment fails to grasp the fact while obvious foreseen consequences may be triggered, unforeseen consequences may also be caused by one’s actions. This is the case for cities <href=”https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/06/09/the-movement-to-defund-or-disband-police-heres-what-you-need-to-know-now/#560911167f1a”>defunding their police departments in the aftermath of the tragic death of George Floyd while in the custody of white police officers.
Unfortunately, defunding police movements have gained traction not so much due to Floyd’s death but because COVID-19 is forcing spending cuts easier made by the movements. Such budget cuts forced New York City to cancel NYPD’s class of 1,100 new recruits.
Obviously, a logical and foreseeable consequence of defunding police is to encourage criminal activity. Anywhere authority is withdrawn, a void of lawlessness emerges. It is an open invitation for those harboring evil intent to occupy “no man’s land” to exercise that intent to the maximum detriment of innocent victims. It should not take a rocket scientist to recognize this not only as a dangerous consequence of defunding but clearly a foreseeable one as well. Mostly “peaceful protesters” are becoming more aggressive, eventossing explosives and assaulting officers where a police presence remains and attacking helpless victims where a police presence is minimized. Despite this, some states, like Virginia, further encourage anti-police activity, looking to reduce the penalty for assaulting officers. All of this has created rioters who are a mix of college students, out-of-work parents and convicted felons only using Floyd’s death as an excuse for exercising their own lustful greed.
Democratic-controlled cities like New York, Portland, Seattle and others have experienced drastic increases in violence. In New York, shootings have skyrocketed by 76%. The most recent victim was a NYC corrections officer killed in Queens – shot eleven times – as he walked home and his gun stolen. Antifa thugs show no mercy for minorities, most recently terrorizing Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods and looting their stores. Portland has witnessed its worst homicide numbers in over 30 years. As some counties in Oregon announce they will not prosecute criminal behavior, the state police have no choice but to withdraw.
Unsurprisingly, despite anti-police riots around the country, it has not deterred our men and women in blue from doing their job. A California officer recently saved a disabled veteran, whose wheelchair became stuck on a railroad track, from certain death, pulling him free mere seconds before the train raced by.
Just as logical as the absence of police authority inviting violent riots, damaging local businesses, is the loss of city tax revenues. It also means some businesses, recognizing civilian authority has failed to take adequate measures to provide a safe environment, may simply decide to close their doors for good, seeking greener pastures elsewhere. Businesses remaining behind will undoubtedly find themselves hit with higher insurance rates and payroll taxes – a cost that is passed on to consumers who actually pay for goods rather than loot them. Such costs may well soon drive Amazon out of Seattle.
Perhaps on the unforeseen consequence side of the ledger is the impact rioters will have on their own living standards. Truck companies transporting food and other essentials to stores are hesitant now to enter un-policed towns and cities. Stealing goods off trucks has always been a potential threat, but one limited by an adequate police presence. With that presence no longer a factor, it will be “open season” on truckers, creating both financial and safety risks that trucking companies are simply unwilling to take on. Thus, they will refuse to transport goods to locales where police forces have been defunded.
One can only wonder how much forethought has been given to the consequences of the police-free “utopia” defenders seek to establish. Interestingly, some cities propose unarmed social workers replace police as the former cause fewer deaths than the latter. While doing so may well reduce the number of deaths of suspects in custody, it certainly will cause a major increase in the number of deaths of social workers at the hands of armed suspects. Let’s see how long this brilliant idea is implemented before the tally of dead but well-intentioned social workers mounts.
An incident occurring on June 24 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, should also give defunders pause to reflect upon the consequences of bringing in social workers. State Sen. Tim Carpenter, who has participated in a number of peaceful protests during his 36-year political career, was using his cellphone to record a group of protest marchers during a night of intensifying violence. Before he knew what happened, two female marchers broke from the crowd to attack him. Thrown to the ground, other marchers joined in, punching and kicking him in the head, despite his pleas he was an ally of theirs. He was subsequently treated for head, neck, nose and rib injuries. Police released a video of the attack, prompting the two women involved to turn themselves in. They were charged with battery and robbery. Ironically, one of the two is a social worker; however, there will be no riots demonstrating against brutal social workers.
Defunding police is having drastic consequences. In Chicago, since Floyd’s May 25 death, there have been 47 murders and 193 victims wounded. Of these, 90% have been African Americans. Statistically in Chicago, 71% of murders committed in the Windy City are committed by blacks. Undeniably, the cop who killed Floyd was a bad cop. However, defunders choosing to drink the every-cop-is-a-bad-cop Kool-Aid will only cause many more blacks to die – killed by fellow blacks – than will ever die in the hands of bad cops.
Perhaps the most extreme unforeseen consequence we are witnessing due to police defunding is the refusal of our Democratic political leaders to call violent riots what they really are, choosing instead to take a head-in-the-sand approach to the problem by claiming they are “peaceful protests.” Hopefully, the error of their ways will come back to haunt them on Nov. 3.
