A survey of black business owners shows mixed feelings on defunding the police, a campaign championed by the Black Lives Matter movement that would reduce police budgets and reallocate those funds to improve other areas like education, public health, housing, and youth services, reports The Cut.
Tasia Ford, who owns Big Red Hot Sauce with her husband Paul, told The Washington Examiner there are people who don’t agree with defunding the police, but this is the first time the idea has real support behind it.
Ford told the Examiner this is the first time people are really looking at how the police operate and that changes are needed and necessary.
Since the Black Lives Matter protests started after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, black activists, politicians, and celebrities have called for cities and states to defund the police and use the money to boost social services that help people with issues that have been pushed on the police.
Drug prevention and rehabilitation, mental health services, and housing are just some of the places people want to see money allocated to other than police departments.
