You know, it's really tragic that the "defund the police" movement was so badly mischaracterized by conservatives.

The whole idea was the divert significant funding from police departments and other law enforcement agencies to social service agencies, so then when somebody like you saw somebody in need, a call to 911 could summon effective, compassionate help instead of a brutal police response.

But police culture in the United States is becoming increasingly more brutal instead of less.

And compassion? I watched a cop bodycam video last night of a woman who had been badly beaten in a domestic abuse case. Her face was covered with knots and bruises.

She had walked for many miles to get away from her abuser, and she didn't know what to do or who to ask for help.

Two cops pulled up and she was walking alongside a rural road late at night. She begged them for help, even if just a ride to the next gas station. She appeared to be at least somewhat drunk.

Outside of her hearing, they asked one another if they wanted to give her a ride, and one cop told the other that no he really didn't want to, and you could hear the disgust dripping from his voice.

They lied to her and told them policy prevented them from giving her a ride, and then that they didn't have room in their cruiser for her bags. (Obviously false. The entire back seat of their cruiser was empty, and she didn't have that much stuff.)

Then they drove off.

13 minutes later, a tractor trailer hit her, and she died instantly. It might have been suicide, though her sister disputes that.

This is where we are right now. Cops in general are cruel people. Calling them for help is likely either to make things (much) worse or to invite the sort of depraved apathy as in the above instance.

Here is a link to that body cam footage and some news reporting, by the way: 👇

https://youtu.be/K2i-7P7GfZA?si=KlZ-wAagkCrXID-f