The Defund-the-Police movement is dead

This article doesn't bury the lede. It starts with the lede that minority communities want more police officers, not fewer. It opens, saying "Amid a jump in violent crime in this and other cities nationwide, Detroit residents report being much more worried about public safety than about police misconduct, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University/Detroit Free Press Poll finds."

The next paragraph continues, saying "By an overwhelming 9-1 [margin], they would feel safer with more cops on the street, not fewer. While a third complain that Detroit police use force when it isn't necessary – and Black men report high rates of racial profiling – those surveyed reject by 3-1 the slogan of some progressives to 'defund the police.'" That's a humiliating rejection of the Democrats' defund movement.

This is telling:

The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year by a then-police officer and other examples of brutality toward Black people, some of them caught on cell-phone video, have caused massive protests demanding police accountability and a reckoning on race. But growing concern about a sharp rise in murders and shootings across the country last year is also threaded through the national debate about law enforcement and criminal justice.

This isn't just about reforming police. It's about keeping communities safe, too, especially communities of color. This is fascinating:

The poll found a significant racial divide on the issue. Black residents ranked crime at the top of their list of concerns: 24% cited public safety, just 3% police reform.

But white residents were a bit more concerned about police reform than public safety, 12% compared with 10%. Education was by far the biggest issue on their minds, named by 31%.

Trey Gowdy obliterates Rep. Cori Bush for a) advocating for defunding the police and b) spending $70,000 of campaign funds on private security:

 

That's called talking out of both sides of your mouth. That isn't a good look, especially for the loudest zealots. While it's true that the defund advocates still have their followers, the truth is that their movement has lost momentum. Big time.