Defunding cops is a necessity, primarily in the US but also elsewhere, and the justification for it is obvious. So what are cops doing to justify the budgetary waste and make the public side with them?  They have started lying and fearmongering.  In response to the call to defund cops, I see a disturbing trend three fictions being told.

1) “They want to defund cops AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!”

Not one Black Lives Matter statement has advocated defunding fire departments. But cops (and some fire departments) are spreading this lie. Less money for cops would mean more for fire and ambulance services, more for social workers.

2) “If they defund cops, fire fighters will be at risk!”

Bootlickers within fire departments are spreading this lie. It’s probably union astroturfing, not a genuine thing. How often are fire fighters and their trucks targeted at the scene of a fire? Has that ever even happened?

I’ve searched and can’t find a single news item.  But finding willing liars is easy.

What ‘defund the police’ means for Firefighters

Asking, again, for people to consider how vital Firefighters and Medics are in the long run, and how much they do for the community.

Because if you consider defunding the police, it will mean defunding the fire department.

That goes so far beyond a non sequitur that there isn’t a term in Latin, English, German or any other language.  Considering how many cops have perpetrated violence against fire fighters doing their jobs, I can’t fathom a reason for fire fighters to support cops other than corrupt unions and systematic and systemic racism.  And considering how many racist fire fighters there are, that doesn’t surprise.

3) Cities are claiming that “fire and police budgets are linked”

Sacramento is threatening citizens with an all-or-nothing proposition: “if we defund cops, we’ll defund fire departments”. They are using fear to intimidate people into supporting cops.

Sacramento City Council rejects call to ‘defund’ public safety agencies

The Sacramento City Council appears to be moving forward with a plan to redirect money from the city budget toward a new “participatory budget” fund.

However, it appears unlikely the council will reduce its public safety budgets to support the new fund, despite recommendations from a citizen committee and requests by some activists. The city’s two largest public safety unions sent a letter to the council on Tuesday opposing reductions to their budgets.

The city’s Measure U Community Advisory Committee recommended the council remove $15 million from the city budget to put into a new fund to allow the public to decide how to spend it. The committee suggested the money come from the police and fire budgets, or from money set to fund capital improvement projects and pay down debt.

Seattle is trying to kill people in BLM protests. The city refuses to sent ambulances to the CHOP area “without police backup”. Why would they need “police backup” when it is the cops who are shooting people, when BLM protesters have not perpetrated any violence?

If police are defunded, Seattle firefighters could face a new reality

In the early hours of Saturday, June 20, volunteer medics called 911 to inform dispatchers of a shooting in the Black Lives Matter protest zone known as CHOP. “We need an ambulance. He needs to go to the hospital,” one caller can be heard telling a dispatcher a little before 2:30 a.m.

For the next 20 minutes, a series of callers implored 911 dispatchers to help transport the victim. “He’s bleeding out on the table,” one caller said. “We’ll be there as soon as we can,” the dispatcher responded.

But dispatchers also made clear fire officials would not venture into the CHOP without a police presence. Instead, volunteer medics would have to carry the patient a block away to meet the ambulance.

New Jersey’s chief bootlicker/toady in the fire department also pretends that cutting police budgets in favour of fire and ambulance services is a “threat to public safety”. This while many fire departments have budget shortfalls and need money diverted away from egregious police budgets.

Council Members Say ‘No’ to Effort to Defund Police

Jersey City Fire Department Chief Steven McGill also spoke, saying that cuts to public safety are unwise at any time, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. “This is exactly the wrong time to defund public safety,” he said, praising Fulop’s efforts to build professional departments that have created a safer city.