Kamala Harris’ dream of stopping cops responding to 911 calls resurfaces… and her worrying argument for why the U.S. ‘doesn’t need a law enforcement response’
Vice President Kamala Harris once floated the idea that police officers would no longer be needed as first responders in American communities. This was a surprisingly naive assessment of law enforcement, given her background.
In June 2019, then-Senator Kamala Harris appeared at the Poor People’s Campaign Forum as a presidential candidate in the Democratic primary, where she was asked about the demilitarization of police departments across the country.
But Harris seemed primarily concerned with eliminating police departments from responding to calls for help from the public, such as 911.
‘[W]“We really need to get to a point where communities no longer need a law enforcement response to what’s happening in their communities because they are safe communities,” Harris said.
Proponents of “defund the police” argue that 911 calls could be better responded to by deploying publicly funded, unarmed mental health professionals to prevent violent confrontations with suspected criminals.
Kamala Harris promoted the idea of defunding the police during her failed first presidential campaign
Harris’ comments about defunding law enforcement came before the death of George Floyd while in the custody of the Minneapolis police, which has heightened racial tensions between Black Americans and the law enforcement community.
Her comments were at odds with the message she delivered as San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, in which she praised the idea of deploying more police officers in communities.
“[I]“If we were to raise the hands of those who would like to see more police officers on the streets, my hand would go up,” she wrote in her 2009 book Smart on Crime, which outlined proposals to improve community safety.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris briefs media with law enforcement officials
As San Francisco’s district attorney, Kamala Harris supported the idea of deploying more police officers in local communities
“A visible and strategic police presence acts as a deterrent to crime and has a positive impact on the community,” she continued.
Following Floyd’s death, Harris fully embraced the Black Lives Matter movement in June 2020 and changed her position on police use of force.
“For far too long, the status quo thinking has been that if you put more police on the streets, you’re going to be safer. And that’s just wrong, that’s not how it works,” Harris said.
In an interview with Power 106 Los Angeles host Nick Cannon, Harris indicated that she supports the idea of completely overhauling the duties of a police officer.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris speaks to California Democrats in Anaheim, California on May 16, 2015.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., appears before a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Capitol Hill
“We need to reimagine public safety in America,” Harris said. “It’s been turned on its head for too long, and people have confused achieving public safety with putting more cops on the streets.”
Harris also praised Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti for his decision to cut police funding by $150 million.
“I applaud Mayor Garcetti for what he has done,” she said during a interview with ABC’s Good Morning America.
She called on governments to re-evaluate their funding of police departments, saying it was a poor use of public money.
“We need to reexamine what we are doing with American taxpayer dollars and ask ourselves: Are we getting the right return on our investment? Are we actually creating healthy and safe communities?” Harris asked.