Upholding, Not “Defunding The Police.” Understanding the Hidden Politics of Law Enforcement.

How a deliberate attempt to increase racial divide is behind the disintegration and massive takeover of American law enforcement as we know it.

I have come a long way in the last six years. Over the previous one and a half years while on the California gubernatorial campaign trail, I learned an extraordinary amount of eye-opening revelations, particularly about the politics of law enforcement.

Speaking to law enforcement across the state has made me realize that a Facebook post I made in 2016 regarding my stand against police brutality enabled and supported policies and politics that I now believe to be counterproductive, if not outright dangerous. The conversations I've had, and the extensive research I've conducted, have expanded my understanding of the topic to such an extent that I now view my statement in 2016 as one of my most significant professional mistakes. Knowing what I know now, I want to make amends because I can see that my good intentions were exploited by an agenda that aimed to create catastrophic division. 

Please allow me to provide some context. 

Does the US have racial issues? Yes, of course. But those issues are being used to manipulate public opinion. 

Am I saying there are no issues within law enforcement? No. But the perceived issues, amplified by design, are very different from the real issues that need addressing. I have witnessed police abuse during my time at Occupy Wall Street and Standing Rock protest in North Dakota.... so I am not naive. There are issues…. but there is something else afoot here.

So what is happening? Considering the data, personal accounts, and how the media covers law enforcement, it exposes a deliberate attempt to increase, not decrease, racial issues in order to undermine our law enforcement agencies.

This is designed to subvert current law enforcement and replace them with a more lethal, draconian force.

In 2016, I posted a FB opinion that became explosive and garnered national attention. I did not realize that my misunderstanding of the situation was helping to perpetuate a politically-motivated war being unjustly waged against law enforcement. Contrary to my original intention, the relationship between law enforcement and our communities has further deteriorated, and real healing opportunities have been forsaken.

At the beginning of Covid, I supported stay-at-home orders and masking while we waited for data to come in. Once the data came in, however, I changed my mind. I have done the same concerning law enforcement now that my understanding has dramatically expanded.

While I initially apologized in 2016, I would like to offer again my promise to correct some wrongs.

When I began campaigning for CA governor in 2021, I had been advocating for mandatory malpractice insurance, police union accountability, and expanded de-escalation training within law enforcement. However, further investigation revealed that while these solutions may sound good, they are band-aids and are not addressing the ulterior motives behind the dismantling of law enforcement.

I have also learned that we need to focus on the mental health of law enforcement personnel. As it stands, law enforcement personnel are fleeing their jobs and California at an alarming rate. More officers die by suicide than in the line of duty. What's causing officers to kill themselves? Organizational betrayal and a politically-waged war against them led to moral decay. Stigma in the profession is astronomical.

We need to normalize law enforcement personnel attending therapy and remove the shame around doing so.

While some people may jump to celebrate law enforcement's demise, how many have taken the time to ask - 'What comes next? Because even if our current officers go away, crime will not. 

Has anyone noticed that crime is exponentially more rampant since defunding the police has increased across America?

Law enforcement officers have personally told me that if we continue tearing apart law enforcement, it will and is being replaced with more militant and emotionally-detached law enforcement. The training guidelines within the force have been shifting. New officers are currently being indoctrinated through a system that threatens our freedoms, bodily autonomy, and rights as we know them; these changes to law enforcement training are receiving virtually no media coverage.

I cannot stress enough the inevitable danger of this. It is clear that while we should always strive to remove corruption, what has taken place in law enforcement over the years is significantly different. It isn't as much corruption as a very dangerous radicalization under the guise of law enforcement betterment. This new form of extreme law enforcement attempting to undermine and replace the current law enforcement should have no place in civil society. If we think things are bad on the streets now, we haven't seen anything yet. 

I suggest advocating the following:

• Eliminate or amend California's Senate Bill 2; it was misguided legislation and an overreaction to past injustices, real or perceived. It cannot be a solution moving forward. Under its current language, SB 2 will make it nearly impossible for law enforcement to perform their duties. It will discourage new hires from applying, encourage current law enforcement officers to retire early or seek employment out of state, and decrease proactive police work, which keeps communities safe. It will adversely impact every community in California. There has been a mass exodus of law enforcement in California; we cannot afford to lose more than we already have. Every criminal justice reform endeavor in the last two years has negatively impacted every community in California and the country. Crime rates are at an all-time high creating more victims of violent crime in every community and empowering criminal offenders/career criminals. 

• Support qualified immunity for law enforcement; they must have protections if we ask them to risk their lives for the communities. I did not realize earlier that by removing qualified immunity, an officer is less likely to act during a crisis because of the possibility of being sued due to unintended consequences. Additionally, eliminating qualified immunity would likely create an environment where officers "fail to act" when they reasonably should to save lives.

• Support funding mental health initiatives for law enforcement, including improving the broken worker's compensation system for injured officers by removing the bureaucratic red tape, which makes navigating the system unnecessarily difficult. More first responders die by suicide in California than in the line of duty, and our communities do not benefit from officers struggling with cumulative stress and untreated trauma. Therefore, we will alleviate antiquated systems to make their jobs easier for them, which will, in turn, improve community relations.

• While I wholeheartedly support vigorous rehabilitation and re-skilling of incarcerated individuals, re-entry into society, and supporting families and communities in ending the pipeline to prisons, we must still hold criminal offenders responsible for their crimes. Laws/policy measures that promote a deterrence effect will always be a more robust solution than "criminal justice reform." It is well established by industry experts that initiatives like Prop 47, Prop 36, AB 109, and similar ones are failed policy measures. It incentivized criminal behavior and created a revolving door within the criminal justice system.

• We need to expand whistleblower policies and have our DOJ create a liaison unit to police unions/associations that can report corruption/misconduct at their respective agency. In addition, we must appoint a law enforcement advisor to my staff, who is the central point of contact for all law enforcement-related matters.

We have one last chance to pull this nation and California out of a dangerous trajectory. We need to address all of our deep wounds and trauma, call out the disinformation campaigns, such as BLM and fake solutions, and acknowledge the need to move in a direction that will ensure a beautiful future for our children. 

Protecting America's law enforcement is about defending our homes, neighborhoods, and businesses and safeguarding our future. Some of what I have shared will be difficult for some to embrace. Still, I am willing to begin the conversation with a deep and heartfelt apology and request that all of us pull up our chairs and sit at the table for a long-overdue gathering focused on healing.

We're toast if we get rid of the remaining law enforcement officers with a conscience.

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