Monday, June 8, 2020

Montgomery County Council weighs defunding the police

A day after the Minneapolis City Council vowed to dissolve its police department, the Montgomery County Council is now examining whether it should "defund the police." Councilmember Andrew Friedson (D - District 1) says the Council has received almost 700 emails from constituents "advocating for defunding police, reforming police, reallocating resources to mental health services, housing initiatives, restorative justice, and more." The Councilman said on Facebook that "[w]e have many important conversations ahead."

The all-Democrat Council has been mostly silent on the nationwide issues of dissolving the police or defunding the police to this point. Progressives in Minneapolis quickly turned against very progressive Mayor Jacob Frey, who has pressed through radical reforms like ending single-family-home neighborhood zoning, when he declined to support the City Council plan to abolish its police department Saturday. With Montgomery County and Maryland veering sharply left in the last decade, it will be interesting to see how the County Council addresses these issues with progressive voters, who are now the decisive factor in Democratic primaries.

1 comment:

  1. In the past, I was told by a Montgomery County Police officer that they are there to only look after the county's businesses, that us as residents of the county are on our own. Just Recently I was told by another officer that the area of the county I live in, Aspen Hill, is a ghetto and not slated to get county services, specially policing. So what have I been funding Montgomery County Police for? I want Marc Elrich to write me a check for 20% of my maryland income tax since 1986 and 20% of my property tax since 1991 both adjusted for inflation as my money back for a non-existent Montgomery county police department. As a minority, even with Degrees from Univ Maryland and an MBA, if I get pulled over, what? All my funds so they can put their knee on my neck and kill me if I run a yellow light? I do not want to pay for security for CVS and Safeway. Mr. Elrich, I WANT MY FUNDS BACK.

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