DUIguy87 t1_j7xbboh wrote on February 10, 2023 at 1:38 AM

Reply to comment by HebrewHammer14 in Exonerees in Mass. state drug lab scandal want their seized property and money back by ak47workaccnt

I’m certainly not opposed to adjusting the self defense laws, but thats deff a complicated undertaking as most “castle doctrine” and “stand you ground” laws are treated as green lights for people to kill their fellow Americans. But that is a bit of a different conversation.

To the topic at hand I’d argue that since there is minimal return on investment from raising police budgets we are just wasting money in doing so. Government is inherently inefficient as sits, so I’m not sure why throwing money intentionally into bottomless pit should be considered.

At the end of the day police is just an investment in public safety and one that, even if it worked as claimed, at best will only suppress crime. If we instead used that money to build up and support communities there would be a better chance of that investment paying off. If we are in agreement that our safety is due more in part to how our state’s society is run, shoring up and expanding those programs certainly wouldn’t hurt. I’m by no means advocating removing the cops, more we are just at the point of diminishing returns with them and we need to look to other solutions.

HebrewHammer14 t1_j7yue13 wrote on February 10, 2023 at 11:26 AM

How would you invest in the community? Which communities are we speaking about? I agree that just throwing money at police isn’t necessarily the answer, especially considering that I’d be worried about where that money would be taken from. I’m not for bolstering police if it meant something like taking away social programs for kids. Maybe something they could do would be to invest more money in the schools. Pay the teachers better and just in general invest more money into the future generations.

DUIguy87 t1_j8090yp wrote on February 10, 2023 at 5:53 PM

Social programs for kids would be great. Community centers, local sports leagues, increased access to daycare. I’d go so far as to say more in the way of increased rent support or food subsidies for families in low income brackets, and smoothing the transition between income brackets and aid granted so there are no disincentives to advance professionally.

There is certainly a correlation between absent parents/broken families and crime. As such I feel that policies that help keep parents with their children are worth prioritizing, a parent working 70+hrs a week to support their family is still an absent parent despite how noble their cause is.