San Francisco’s Police Union Just Made the Case for Defunding the Police

Police officers in front of San Francisco's City Hall on May 31.Karl Mondon/Getty

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Following the lead of transit workers and agencies in Minneapolis, New York, and Boston, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (AKA Muni) announced yesterday that it would stop transporting cops to anti-police brutality protests: 

Today, the city’s police union, the San Francisco Police Officers Association, tweeted out a grumpy response that inadvertently made the case for rolling back some of the city’s police services, specifically, using cops to bust fare evaders and handle “problem passengers.” “Shouldn’t be a @SFPD officer’s job anyway,” it grumbled.

The SFPOA went on, “As city leaders demand cuts to SFPD, it needs to be clear what SFPD will no longer do.” Yup. That’s exactly the discussion that advocates of defunding and downsizing police departments have kicked off. Beyond the menacing snark, is San Francisco’s police union ready to have that conversation?  

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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