Harris Commended DEFUNDING Police Movement
About two months before she joined the Biden 2020 ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris applauded the defunding of the police.
Following the continuous George Floyd protests and rioting that summer, Harris appeared on the New York radio program “Ebro In The Morning” in June 2020. According to the broadcast, Harris said that the defund the police campaign was justified in raising concerns about police finances. In August of that year, Harris was selected as the running mate by current President Joe Biden, but she then seemed to reverse her decision.
Harris stated in the Ebro interview that “the status quo thinking has been you get more safety by putting more cops on the street, well that’s wrong for too long. This whole movement is about rightly pointing out that these budgets need to be examined to see if they reflect the proper priorities.”
In the interview, Harris stated, “We need to have this conversation and critically examine and understand this is not working. It’s not functioning. As a result, this is a crucial conversation rather than a simple one since, as you mentioned earlier, it cannot be limited to speaking. It must involve imposing change.”
Harris’ press secretary at the time, Sabrina Singh, subsequently stated in October 2020 that Harris opposed cutting off funds for law enforcement, as reported by CNN.
In October 2020, former Harris press secretary Sabrina Singh stated, “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris do not support defunding the police, and it is a lie to suggest otherwise,” as reported by CNN. “Sen. Harris has advocated for raising funds for community policing and increasing funding to police departments throughout her career.”
According to CNN, Harris also commended Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2020 for reallocating $150 million from the police budget to social programs. In a 2020 MSNBC interview, she called for the “demilitarization of police departments” and stated that the idea that increasing the number of police was the answer to crime was “wrong and backward.”
A 2016 analysis by the Council of Economic Advisors found that a 10 percent increase in the police force reduces crime by 3 to 10 percent. According to a 2020 National Bureau of Economic Research study, for every 10 to 17 new police employed, there is one fewer murder.
The Daily Caller News Foundation requested comment from the Harris Campaign, but they did not reply right away.
