Actress and activist Jane Fonda is weighing in on the “defund the police” movement and what it really means for law enforcement.
Fonda suggested the movement is not an initiative to completely rid society of the police; instead, it is an effort to reallocate law enforcement funding to communities.
“We’re not talking about doing away with the police. We’re talking about reconfiguring it and having communities take the lead,” Fonda said during her appearance on “The View.”
Fonda mentioned what the movement looks like in Newark, New Jersey.
According to Fonda, they created a community team to “go door to door to and check on people and take care of people and find out what’s wrong.”
Watch her comments below:
.@Janefonda discusses why she supports the ‘defund the police’ movement and speaks to the controversy surrounding the term: “We’re not talking about doing away with the police. We’re talking about reconfiguring it and having communities take the lead.” https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/dlvTxlnAKb
— The View (@TheView) September 10, 2020
She reiterated the community leads it, and the police only come in when it is necessary.
“You don’t totally do away with the police. But, there’s not these humongous amounts of money that are going to fund the police that instead should go to the community needs and that in itself will help reduce trouble and uprisings and crime and it’s working very very well,” Fonda said.
Joy Behar pressed Fonda on why the movement is not called “reconfiguring the police” because “defund the police” is a “volatile” phrase.
“Well you and I are white and I think this is a moment in history when we have to sit back and take our cues from movement for Black lives,” Fonda said.
She added, “It’s their turn to decide what they do, how they do, and how they name it.”
Protesters began chanting “defund the police” during demonstrations over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, as IJR previously reported.
More protests erupted after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot seven times in the back by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as IJR previously reported.
