Independents what are your thoughts about defunding police?

If the threat of it will start a conversation with the policing unions it might be worth using it as a bargaining chip. Most of the problems with US policing lie solidly with the power these unions wield and the local politicians they buy with campaign donations. Most cops probably wouldn't mind it they could skip some of the EPD (emotionally disturbed persons) calls and let shrinks and social workers handle those. In absence of any real kind of mental health system in this country we probably need some team of people who show up with more than just a gun and handcuffs. So it's a matter of shifting funds (and possibly reducing some of the lavish pensions) than eliminating PDs completely. But in the places that do get rid of their city PDs, they'll just have to create contracts with the county policing forces. It's not like any city is going to be a place without law enforcement entirely. 

Defunding would mean taking some of the money used for the police force and redistributing it in other programs.  The problem is whenever you redistribute funds the crooked politicians will give some of the money to themselves.

I agree with the Boston police commissioner: cops have to wear too many hats. Any time something's wrong, we call a cop. Family disturbance? Call a cop. Mentally-ill guy poops on the street? Call a cop. And so on. When there's an actual need for cops, use them, but we've defunded everything BUT the cops, and that needs to stop. That means PARTIAL defunding, because we need SOME way to pay for those non-police functions that cops are now performing.

Boston Police Commissioner Gross: Officers ‘Wear Too Many Hats,’ Duties Should Be Shared

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/06/12/boston-poli...

Boston’s top cop supports “sharing responsibilities” as Mayor Marty Walsh calls for moving 20% of the police department’s overtime budget to community programs. Police Commissioner William Gross said his department is asking that “more people come up and help solve problems.”

“Quite frankly, what I’ve heard in the community is we wear too many hats anyway. A child doesn’t want to go to school? You call the Boston Police. A child’s on the bus being unruly? You call the Boston Police. There’s an emotionally disturbed person in a home? You call the Boston Police,” Gross said at Friday’s news conference. “How many hats do you want us to wear? So, I think that responsibility should be spread out.”