Success on police reform hinges on funding, not defunding law enforcement

Recent public opinion polls have found that concern over crime is at its highest point in four years as a spike in violent crime plagues major cities across the country. From the perspective of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, the nation’s largest statewide law enforcement association and where I serve as president, the growing public concern about violent crime doesn’t detract from the need for federal legislation to improve policing — it underscores that need and the need for such legislation to include increased funding for law enforcement.

As clashing calls to defund and increase funding for law enforcement pull the national dialogue in opposing directions, we need to remember that we all want the same thing. We want safer communities. We want to recruit exceptional individuals who display professionalism and strong ethics, who can act calmly and responsibly under pressure. We want a diverse workforce that resembles the communities we serve. We want officers who are prepared for the rigors of the job. We want to partner officers with social workers and mental health professionals. We want reforms that will better our law enforcement professionals to better serve our communities. 

Thoughtfully crafted federal public safety laws should help law enforcement mitigate violent crime while improving the way law enforcement operates — those two goals are not mutually exclusive. We can and must do both. So how do we get there?

We wouldn’t improve our education system by taking resources away from teachers, discouraging students from becoming teachers or enacting policies to incentivize teachers to do the bare minimum. Instead, those who prioritize and value education advocate for more classroom resources, higher-education incentives for teachers, investments in grant programs to recruit and retain promising individuals into the field and more training to help improve teacher-student interactions and ratios. So why should our approach to improving public safety and the law enforcement profession be any different? 

It shouldn’t, and most Americans agree. A recent Washington Post/ABC News poll found that: 55 percent of those surveyed believe that increasing funding for police departments would reduce violent crime; 65 percent feel that using social workers to help police defuse situations with people having emotional problems would reduce violent crime and 75 percent recognize that increasing funding to build economic opportunities in poor communities would reduce violent crime.

Unfortunately, rather than focusing on allocating resources to smart public safety reform measures, some legislators are focused on changes to qualified immunity and U.S. Code section 242 — changes that will make it easier to penalize and prosecute officers and won’t have any positive impacts on public safety outcomes. These changes could cause hesitation and discourage proactive policing at a time when 59 percent of Americans believe crime is an “extremely” or “very” serious problem. They likely will also compound the challenges of recruiting qualified officers into the profession at a time when we cannot afford to discourage smart and capable individuals from becoming officers — in a recent survey of 10,000 officers, only 7 percent said they would recommend law enforcement as a career. 

We have an opportunity to increase diversity, recruit more qualified individuals into the field and increase the level of education officers receive. We need to invest in programs to recruit minorities into law enforcement while incentivizing higher education through scholarship and grant programs. 

Experts agree that we need strong requirements in place that can check for the skills and characteristics we expect of peace officers today. We need to establish minimum recruitment standards that will ensure we have the right people for the job as we seek to bring the profession in line with our core values as Americans. 

Peace officers are not social workers or mental health professionals, yet they are constantly asked to fulfill these roles. We need to give departments the funding they need to create new programs that pair officers with social workers and mental health professionals when responding to nonviolent calls. 

We need to move away from a focus on penalizing officers in favor of enacting smart solutions that align federal law enforcement policies and resources with the realities and expectations of law enforcement today. The responsibilities of peace officers have grown exponentially, but federal standards and funding to support the increased training and wrap-around support programs needed to improve the efficacy of police-community interactions have not kept pace. 

As President Biden recognizes, more funding is needed. But along with that, we need federal standards — for use-of-force, training and recruitment. As a guide, lawmakers should look at California’s SB 230 and AB 392. Together, these laws established statewide, uniform training standards designed to minimize the use of force.

Lawmakers need to focus on solutions that will make a difference — and allocate resources accordingly. How we allocate resources reflects our values and goals. Politically expedient solutions are never the answer, whereas a thoughtful and considerate approach that ensures all voices are heard, including law enforcement, provides us with the best opportunity to improve public safety outcomes for all. That is how we will chart a new path forward for law enforcement in America.

Brian Marvel is the president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC).