Criminal justice professor discusses calls to defund the police

Criminal Justice Professor Charles Klahm recently spoke with WJBK Fox 2 News regarding his thoughts on the recent tweets from Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) about the tragic death of Daunte Wright.

On Wednesday, Tlaib clarified her previous remarks on Twitter by saying more funds directed at the police will not solve the increasing issue of deaths at the hands of police. We need to address the issue of poverty and the lack of mental health professionals in our country.

Klahm responded by saying that he believed the average police officer would accept these issues and want to help. He was unsure of how to reallocate money from police funds to these other resources Tlaib mentioned. He was not sure if the citizens would agree that we need fewer police on the streets.

One community that dismantled its police department was Camden, New Jersey in 2013 where the county taking over for the city department.

"New form of policing, the new organization was much more centered on community oriented policing," said Charles Klahm, Wayne State University criminal justice professor. "Bonding with the community, getting to know the community, etcetera. So it changed the whole underlying philosophy.

Some of the promising results coming from Camden is that over the last seven years has shown that homicides are down, excessive use of force complaints are down, despite the change in police methodology."