by SARAH THOMACK
St. Joseph Post
Since the death of George Floyd of Minnesota, many protest signs read ‘defund the police’ and some elected officials are being asked about that idea.
In Minneapolis, most City Council members say they support dismantling their police department and putting the funding toward things like affordable housing and fighting mental health and opioid problems.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson, earlier this week, said defunding the police will not work in Missouri - with violent crime rates rising in Missouri cities. Parson, a former sheriff, says his response right now is to talk with community leaders to hear their needs.
“Not more free stuff, not more government programs,” Parson says. “How do you really change society? And for us to do that, that’s what it’ll take - It’ll take governors sitting down with people in communities that maybe we don’t always sit down with enough and try to figure out how do you do real changes? That’s what will be important for all of us.”
Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett says while he may not fully understand how something like defunding the police would work, especially on a local level, he's open to discussing concerns and changes.
“I think we have a tremendous community and, even regionally, that are realistic, I don’t think anybody would sit back and say there aren’t issues that need to be worked on or discussed,” Puett tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. “If there’s some reform or things needed, absolutely, I think across the board everybody… we constantly look at, what are the issues, are there policy changes we need to look at and all those things. I think any law enforcement agency should and does.”
Puett says he’s proud of the St. Joseph community for having peaceful protests and discussions on recent events and concerns.
“I think that we have some outstanding folks. I don’t think everybody agrees on everything but at least they're able to hopefully continue to discuss openly and have open, peaceful discussions and not the violence,” Puett says. “We’ve seen that so far that our community has done that so I’m very proud that they do that and are moving the right direction.”
Democrats in Congress are proposing an overhaul of police procedures and accountability. The Justice in Policing Act is among the most ambitious law enforcement reforms from Congress in years, confronting several aspects of policing that have come under strong criticism, as more and more police violence is captured on cellphone video and shared widely.
The package limits legal protections for police, creates a national database of excessive-force incidents, and bans police choke holds, among other changes.
AP and Missourinet contributed to this story.