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Originally Posted by 81MC

Maybe what is meant could be the proper definition of a word? It has nothing to do with manipulating things to change a narrative, and everything to do with the reality of definitions.

Like, they do kind of exist for a reason, no?

As has been explained, yes, it could, and yes, it some cases people literally want the police to receive zero funding and have that money to go entirely to other areas that would better help the community. But no, that is not what most people are advocating for.

For example, this would be what a popular "extreme defunding" call looks like from the activist side:

DEFUND THE POLICE

• Immediately redirect a minimum of 50 percent of the $1.1 billion TPS budget toward the communities they have devastated by investing in secure, long-term housing for street-involved and unhoused communities, food security programs, public transit, public health, public libraries, and community-led anti-violence programs.

DEMILITARIZE THE POLICE

• End Emergency Task Force (ETF) and Emergency Response Teams (ERT) (similar to the US-based SWAT teams), tactical squads, military grade weapons, and surveillance equipment.
• Remove all weaponry from police and other law enforcement, including tasers, batons, firearms, rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray, and sound canons.
• End the mass surveillance of our communities through the use of technologies such as stingray, facial recognition, and predictive policing technologies, drones, robots, and G20 surveillance technology that remained in Toronto.

REMOVE COPS IN SCHOOLS

• Remove police and school resource officers (SROs) in all schools (Public, Catholic, Private, and Post-Secondary) in Toronto.
• Remove police and school resource officers (SROs) in all schools, at all levels, across Canada.

REDUCE SCOPE OF POLICE

• End all special constable programs and all policing on campuses.
• End the policing of public transportation.
• End the policing of minor bylaw infractions and noise complaints.
• End paid-duty policing program (officers for hire by developers, street festivals, etc.).
• End police collaboration with the CBSA.
• Eliminate all stealth police cars and plainclothes operations.
• Eliminate community policing patrols in highly racialized communities.
• End Carding

DOCUMENT POLICE VIOLENCE

• Mandate the public collection of data regarding police killing, and incidents of police brutality for all local, regional, provincial, and Federal police or law enforcement agency disaggregated by race, gender, age and citizenship.

DECRIMINALIZE POVERTY, DRUGS, HIV & SEX WORK

• Release and expunge record for all poverty-related charges (including bylaw infractions, solicitation, sleeping outside, public urination, loitering, solicitation).
• Decriminalize drugs, sex work, and HIV status.
• Release and expunge records of all drug-related and sex work charges.

CREATE ALTERNATIVES

• Create Crisis Intervention and Mad co-lead support teams; work with communities to develop models that work for them.
• Create police-free, community-led, trauma-informed emergency service for mental health/psychiatric distress and other forms of crisis.
• Invest in community support for shelters, drop-ins, after-school programming in low-income, Black, and Indigenous neighborhoods.
• Create restorative services, mental health services, and community-run health centres
• Invest in harm reduction, including safe supply, safe injection/inhalation sites, and harm-reduction outreach workers.
• Establish a community-based and trauma-informed emergency service for people who have experienced gender-based violence.
• Implement of civilian transportation safety service and better/safer road infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists and public transit
• Create a civilian conflict resolution resolution service to replace policing of minor bylaw infractions/noise complaints
• Provide permanent, secure housing options for all people who need housing.

https://blacklivesmatter.ca/defund-the-police/

Some of those things we might agree on, others maybe not. But they're asking for a 50% reduction and showing exactly what crime-prevention measures they believe that money should fund.