Rest easy, suburbanites. It is highly unlikely that the conservative local Democratic Party will sanction defunding the police department.

Original title: BELATED NAWBANY WEEK IN REVIEW: "Councilman calls for closer scrutiny of New Albany police spending."

Following is a revealing article in the local chain newspaper. It seems that council member Al Knable, a Republican (not a Democrat or member of some other smaller political party), mentioned keeping an eye on police expenditures during the forthcoming budgetary process.

(As a relevant aside, the municipal budgetary process for next year stands to be very interesting, indeed, given the pandemic's effects on business, both local and statewide. It's hard to imagine any increases, and far easier to envision necessary cuts. Consequently, for the first time in a while, the budget might well become highly politicized.)

Concurrently, Jeffersonville's Mayor Mike Moore, a Republican, recently announced an effort to equip its police force with a new generation of high tech body cameras.

If my memory can be trusted, New Albany has rejected cameras in toto in the past on grounds of cost; as we can see in this excerpt, perhaps the consensus among elected Democrats (as opposed to Republicans, who have not enjoyed a majority on city council since before this blog was founded in 2004) is that such cameras are simply redundant in a city that doesn't have the sort of problems other cities do.

As an aside, isn't Pyongyang also an example of a city that doesn't have the sort of problems other cities do? The North Koreans keep saying so, at the very least.

Another point worth considering is the quote from the mayor to the effect that if our council is interested in social programs, members have had ample time to bring them to the table, and in fact should already have done so.

Te reiterate: Democratic Party council members have had an unassailable majority for most of the past 16 years. Based on this plain fact, there is a strong suggestion that any social program forthcoming from council would necessarily emanate from Democrats, as opposed to Republicans, or else have no chance whatever of passage. 

For most of the past 16 years.

I cannot recall substantive social programs being proposed by Democrats during this time, but if there were and I've missed them, please let me know and we can update and discuss.

In closing, allow me to note that since his return from Kentucky, Daniel Suddeath has contributed quite a lot of genuine substance to coverage of New Albany. He's lapping his immediate predecessor, the former assistant editor.

As yet it remains problematic for me to support the management of the newspaper, as it seems unable to acknowledge reality on the ground in this community. I wish this might change. If publisher Bill Hanson were to make a serious effort to change the newspaper's approach in terms of coverage, and analyzing events from a cross-section of the community rather than just one demographic, I'd purchase some variety of on-line subscription.

However Hanson can begin by acknowledging the thousands of hits NA Confidential has directed toward the newspaper's on-line advertising since 2004.

Bill, just say "thank you, Roger" -- and shake up that guest columnist roster -- and I'll give you some money

Deal?

Councilman calls for closer scrutiny of New Albany police spending, by Daniel Suddeath

 ... Mayor (redacted) said Tuesday that the council, administration and public should scrutinize the budget every year. Funding public safety and programs that improve the community isn’t an either/or proposition, he continued.

“If any of the council members are serious about funding social programs, I would hope they would have brought those concerns up in the past instead of waiting for a lot of unrest,” (redacted) said. “I don’t think it’s fair to pit the police department against social spending.”

New Albany Police Chief Todd Bailey participated in a recent rally and protest walk in the city’s downtown. He said during the June 13 event that the NAPD values its partnership with the community, and that the department is demilitarized and has banned some of the questionable tactics and procedures of other police agencies that have drawn criticism.

(Redacted) also offered his support for the NAPD, adding that he’s aware of the concerns people have about policing, but stressing that departments and police officers have to be viewed on individual merits and not generalized.

“I think the New Albany Police Department has an outstanding record when it comes to treating people fairly,” Gahan said. “I think it’s a mistake to imply that we have the same type of issues other communities may be experiencing and to use what’s going on in other communities as an excuse to defund the police department.”

The June 13 rally in New Albany was historic, and it served as a call to action to community leaders, (Al) Knable said. The protest should lead to meaningful changes that include how the local government views the budgetary process, he continued ...

To defund police is not to abolish police. It is to reduce and reallocate police budgets.

Photo credit: Mother Jones.

From The Economist: (Order above the law) ... How to fix American policing. The country’s forces kill too many of those they serve. Here is how to change that.

Systemic racism does not mean that all officers are racists or bad people; it means that the system operates in a racially biased manner regardless of individual motivations.

Militarization and violence. Aren't they synonymous?

A paper by Jonathan Mummolo, a political scientist at Princeton, found that police militarisation fails to enhance public safety while also eroding public trust in the police.

That makes sense: military forces are designed to win wars, not trust. The army’s goals and those of the police differ. The army kills its enemies. Police are supposed to serve and protect Americans without violating their civil rights—and to face consequences for violating those rights.

Yet when it comes to killing, few officers face consequences.

Curative measures are a navigational challenge. Police unions are one such outcropping and courts, another.

With courts a narrow avenue for reform, some have started to advocate hitting law-enforcement agencies where it hurts: right in the budget. Advocates in at least 15 cities are waging campaigns to defund the police and use the money on other social services.

Alex Vitale, a Brooklyn College professor and defunding advocate, says that people assume “the problem is that individual officers aren’t doing their jobs properly, when the problem really is that they have been asked to do too big a job.” Police have been asked to provide security in schools, respond to people’s mental-health crises and drug overdoses. “Policing is about use of force,” Mr Vitale explains. “It should be a last resort...We don’t want another community meeting with police. We want them out of our lives.”

Barry Friedman, who runs New York University’s Policing Project, has a simpler suggestion: clear legislation.

Rolling Stone provides a fine overview of what it actually means to "defund the police." To defund police is not to abolish police. It is to reduce and reallocate police budgets.

Consider the fact that four Minneapolis police officers responded to a 911 call that described a minor, nonviolent crime. “George Floyd is the perfect case to look at,” Garcia says. “What he was accused of — what the police were called for — was a nonviolent offense: trying to use a fake $20 bill. If we reduce the number of crimes that exist or repeal ordinances which are really bloated with nonviolent offenses that were created during Broken Windows, it will allow police to focus on violent crime — on the crimes where they are actually needed — instead of criminalizing the poor.”

Vaguely reminiscent of the intent of NA-FC schools and the recently rejected safety referendum, eh?

But many of the typical voter's objections apart from the impact on the pocketbooks of ratepayers centered on prevention as namby-pamby; we need more security, not counseling . How many people did I hear or read saying if the money covered armed police, high walls and padlocked gates, they'd be okay with it?

This brings us back to The Economist and another pressing issue.

Unlike most police forces elsewhere, American police patrol a heavily armed country. That can make their job dangerous—between 2000 and 2014, 2,445 died on duty, compared with just 25 in Britain. But police also return fire, killing around 1,000 people each year.

And the rub:

African-Americans are nearly three times likelier than whites to be killed by police. In fact, being killed by police is now the sixth-leading cause of death for young black men. African-Americans are likelier to be convicted, and serve longer sentences than whites convicted of the same crime; they comprise 13% of the adult population, but 33% of the imprisoned population.