How the volatile Kamala Harris went from wanting more cops in black communities to supporting ‘Defund the Police’… and now wants a reboot

When Vice President Kamala Harris ran for California attorney general in 2010, her ad campaign mimicked the tension of an episode of Law and Order.

“Our justice system needs a drastic overhaul,” Harris said as she walked confidently with the police officers, her hair blowing in the wind as a helicopter flew overhead.

The commercial, which featured a dramatic soundtrack, also featured footage of police officers putting criminals into squad cars as the narrator boosted her career in law enforcement.

Harris has long used her law enforcement record to boost her political career, but after “Kamala the Cop” was rejected in the 2020 Democratic primary, she decided to abandon her record and dismantle the police.

Dismantle the police

Now that Harris is running for president, comments she made in the summer of 2020 in response to questions about defunding police are resurfacing.

Harris was repeatedly asked about the idea of ​​defunding the police. Each time, she did not oppose it, but instead demonstrated her commitment to shifting funding from law enforcement to other priorities.

“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 having more officers on the streets,” Harris said in an interview with Power 106 Los Angeles anchor Nick Cannon.

Harris proposed redirecting funds normally earmarked for police officers to public schools, create jobs and fund health care programs.

“The way we do that is by spending no more than a third of the city’s budget on police, when public schools need those resources,” she said.

Harris also supported the “defund the police” movement in an interview with the hosts of the Ebro in the Morning show in June 2020.

“For too long, the assumption has been that if you put more officers on the streets, you’ll be safer. That’s not true,” she said.

Harris also supported the concept in an interview with actress Laverne Cox and Andy Cohen.

“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.

Activists criticize police actions

What Harris failed to mention is that she was one of the officers who advocated for more police officers on the streets during her career in law enforcement.

In her 2009 book Smart on Crime, Harris discussed the importance of having more police officers on the streets.

“If we were to raise the hands of those who would like to see more police officers on the streets, I would shoot mine up,” she wrote.

“A visible and strategic police presence acts as a deterrent to crime and has a positive impact on the community,” she continued.

Harris continued to make this point throughout her career as a California senator.

“It’s a myth to say that certain communities don’t want police. They do,” Harris said in a February 2019 interview on the Daily Show.

As attorney general, Harris frequently boasted that she was the “best police officer” in the country, using her crime-fighting record as evidence that she was ready for higher office.

But as more activists raised concerns about criminal justice and policing, Harris discovered that her record was actually damaging her standing with Democratic primary voters.

Harris dismissed concerns about her conduct with police during an interview with Star Jones at a Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit in March 2019.

“I think part of what happens is that, you know, there are people who, especially in this race, especially now that it’s all kicking off, will say, ‘Oh, you know, Kamala is po-po,’” she said, bursting into laughter.

Harris responded lightly to activists concerned about her criminal record.

Activists questioned her record of prosecuting parents of truant children, obstructing Black Lives Matter activists and locking up people for using marijuana.

Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard delivered a scathing critique of Harris’ policies during a Democratic presidential debate.

“Senator Harris says she is proud of her record as a prosecutor and that she will be the head of the DA’s office,” Gabbard said, citing Harris’ record of locking up marijuana users, holding inmates who have overstayed their sentences to use them as cheap labor, and fighting proposed bail reforms.

The “Kamala Is a Cop” meme, which shows Harris laughing in a police uniform while handcuffing children, spread online as activists expressed disappointment with her record.

Harris responded by dismissing critics, again saying it was a product of “misinformation” on the internet.

Rebuilding the Prosecutor’s Persona

Now that Harris is running for president, she is attempting to reverse her support for defunding the police, which has proven deeply unpopular with voters, who have been confronted with higher crime rates in America’s major cities.

Harris’ campaign is distancing itself from Harris’ 2020 reboot and instead refocusing on her reputation as a prosecutor.

Harris is convinced that voters want another tough prosecutor, someone who will take on former President Donald Trump, who is now a convicted felon.

“Vice President Harris has spent years prosecuting criminals and securing justice for victims, and has supported increased funding to keep our communities safe and hold convicted criminals like Trump accountable,” campaign spokesman James Singer said in a statement to DailyMail.com.