Bernie Sanders doesn't agree with push to defund and abolish police departments, wants better training and pay
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, on Tuesday, June 9, stated that he does not support defunding or abolishing police departments amid growing calls to do so in the wake of George Floyd's killing in police custody. Sanders, instead, said that he wants more training and better pay for police officers as part of his effort to encourage criminal justice reform in the country.
The senator, during an interview with The New Yorker, said: "Do I think we should not have police departments in America? No, I don’t. There’s no city in the world that does not have police departments." The progressive independent lawmaker, instead, emphasized that he is calling “for police departments that have well-educated, well-trained, well-paid professionals. And, too often around this country right now, you have police officers who take the job at very low payment, don’t have much education, don’t have much training—and I want to change that."
The 2020 presidential Democratic frontrunner, who dropped out of the race in April, also pointed out that there are certain issues that police officials deal with every day that should ideally be dealt with by mental health professionals. He stressed, "For the transformation of police departments into—understanding that many police departments and cops deal every day with issues of mental illness, deal with issues of addiction, and all kinds of issues which should be dealt with by mental-health professionals or others, and not just by police officers."
“I think we want to redefine what police departments do, give them the support they need to make their jobs better defined. So I do believe that we need well-trained, well-educated, and well-paid professionals in police departments. Anyone who thinks that we should abolish all police departments in America, I don’t agree."
Activists have been calling for defunding of the police departments across the country as part of their push for social justice in the wake of George Floyd's death. Four Minneapolis police officers allegedly involved in Floyd's brutal death were fired on May 26 after a video of the incident went viral on social media. The footage showed Floyd pleading with officers as one of them, Chauvin, knelt on his neck while the 46-year-old told them to let him stand because he could not breathe. The clip showed Floyd pleading with the officer to allow him to breathe and a few minutes later he became unconscious. Floyd's death has sparked massive protests and unrest in Minneapolis and across the country.
House and Senate Democrats unveiled a police reform on Monday, June 8, with an aim to end police brutality and hold law enforcement more accountable. The Democrat leaders, however, did not include a push to defund the police. Former Vice President and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, on Monday, said that although he agrees on calls for law enforcement reforms, he does not agree on calls to defund the system.
Sanders, during the interview, however, focused on defeating President Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential elections. The Vermont Senator has backed Biden's candidacy. “Trump has got to be defeated and, in a variety of ways, I intend to play an active role in that process," the senator said.