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Comment by everdrive | Hacker News Reader

>Defunding the police was never a sincerely held belief

It certainly was in some circles:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/opinion/sunday/floyd-abol...

In Minneapolis they want to dismantle the existing police force and replace it with another. A big reason for wanting to do this is to get rid of the problem cops. Police in the U.S. do a horrible job in solving even major crimes. They currently commit a large number of acts of violence without accountability. They system definitely needs to be dismantled and rebuilt.

> In Minneapolis they want to dismantle the existing police force and replace it with another. A big reason for wanting to do this is to get rid of the problem cops.

So throw out the whole bunch because of a few bad apples? And what happens when the replacements have problem cops? Do it over again?

"Bad apples" should lose their jobs before more shit happens under their watch. Instead, they become a symptom of something bigger: the police is unable to police itself.

I mean, the proverb you’re referencing is literally “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch.“

"Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

There are times for both expressions, but police funding is probably a more local issue than can be solved in the comments of HN.

That’s true, but “when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” :)

Five police officers in Miami recently attacked two men while thirteen of their fellow officers watched. [1] The idiom "bad apples" comes from the saying, "A few bad apples spoil the whole bunch," so it's an appropriate term here.

[1] Video footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF4ze5VCY1c

And only charged with misdemeanor "battery" without any enhancements. Had the perps not been police it would be multiple felonies + enhancements for things like gang activity and firearm possession. Looks to me like the DA does not want to upset the police and their unions and is only doing the very minimum to make an impression that he is working.

Presumably the so called good apples will get hired by the newly formed police force. Though I would argue there are very few good apples. You aren’t a good cop when you allow and fail to report on your fellow officers meting out non judicial punishments.

> In Minneapolis they want to dismantle the existing police force and replace it with another.

Who are "they"?

Minneapolis has been a one-party city for decades.

There's nothing stopping that party from doing what it wants with the police force.

For bonus points, guess the party.

There are lots of things stopping the DFL from doing what it wants with the police force. I suggest you look into how police forces hold cities hostage when city government acts in a way they don’t approve of.

This isn't even true. If you look at the wording of the referendum it basically renames the police department.

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