Biden would invest a further $300M in community policing
Rather than defunding the police, Biden would add more funding for local police efforts to build better relationships with the communities they serve.
<
(5 of 5)
Next argument >
The Argument
Joe Biden plans to invest $300 million into the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. This program is designed to encourage healthy relationships between police officers and the members of the communities that they police, and this investment will allow police departments to effectively implement COPS.
The COPS program already exists, but it has not had the necessary funding in order to be effective. Biden’s plan to invest $300 million into the program will allow police departments to hire enough officers to be able to maintain their normal duties while also sending officers into the streets to interact with their respective communities.
The grant will also be directed toward training officers on how to interact with the community in a way that will build healthy relationships between officers and community members. Having a level of trust between the community and the police departments will better equip officers to prevent crime. In order to receive this proposed grant, police departments must ensure that the racial makeup of new officers that are hired will reflect that of the community that they will be policing.
[1]
Counter arguments
The COPS program has received roughly $14 billion in the 26 years since it began (more than $500 million per year), so putting $300 million more into it will probably not make any difference.
[2]
Applying racial requirements to the hiring process may slow it down, and while mirroring the racial makeup of communities may make some people more comfortable, it will likely further the divide between races in America rather than minimize it. Additionally, establishing racial requirements for hiring sets a dangerous precedence for excluding individuals from job opportunities based on their race.
This program will introduce more police officers into the streets, but the current police officers need to be addressed first. Until there is evidence that police reform can be achieved, there should not be any push for more officers.