Americans Explain Why They Oppose Abolishing The Police

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Mike Partida (Engraver)

“If I get mugged, I need to call someone who can show up afterward and tell me it was a damn shame.”

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Greta Wright (Illustrator)

“Even if we got rid of the police, we’d still have to replace them with some other unaccountable domestic paramilitary outfit.”

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Jeremy Wilson (Dentist)

“Instead of abolishing, let’s focus on sending police unlimited funds for training that will absolutely never take place.”

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E.J. Gibson (Bartender)

“I’m white.”

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Frank Caruso (Watch Maker)

It’s a slippery slope to everyone surviving routine traffic stops.

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Natalie Reese (Retired)

“Who else was going to hire my idiot son?”

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Sophia Riley (Nurse)

“What are we supposed to give all of their budget to? Education? Mental health services? Community outreach? Healthcare? Childcare? Housing? Rent relief? Food assistance? Infrastructure?”

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Nancy Diaz (Administrative Assistant)

“Police officers are the only ones brave enough to put their lives on the line to protect us every day they feel like it.”

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Rebecca Chang (Teacher)

“If cops weren’t regularly sending kids to jail for low-level marijuana charges, I’d have to deal with like 20 more students.”

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Phoebe Sorensen (Physical Therapist Aide)

“My husband’s a cop, and I prefer that he take all his rage out on other people.”

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Lawrence Moreno (Hospital CEO)

“They pass along so many clients our way, it just wouldn’t make good business sense to oppose them.”

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Meryl Block (Paralegal)

“And, what, send even more money to social services?”

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Jerome Tate (Office Manager)

“If a bad guy harms me, I want someone to apprehend either them or someone else who vaguely looks like them.”

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Trumaine Giles (Tech Investor)

“Videos of police brutality get a lot of engagement online.”

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Nate Bradbury (Bank Manager)

“Because it’ll make the five hours I’ve already been waiting for them to show up a complete waste of time.”

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James Chastain (Realtor)

“It’s a slippery slope. Once we abolish the police, we’ll start abolishing things like police shootings, police gangs, and police corruption.”

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Frank Dennis (Plumber)

“I like how the sirens go ‘woo, woo, woo.’”

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Dan Pierson (Payroll Clerk)

“Suicide by social worker is gonna be a lot harder than suicide by cop.”

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Heather Veloso (Uber Driver)

“If we abolish the police, only criminals will have police.”

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Jennie Cylin (Forklift Operator)

“Then who will villains easily beat up before fighting the movie’s superhero?”

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Ronald Martin (Animal Torturer)

“I hope to become one someday.”

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Kathleen Hurt (Retired)

“And what? Delete my entire ‘Back The Blue’ Pinterest board just like that?”

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Cody Sanko (Unemployed)

“I don’t think anything should be abolished. Policing, slavery, you name it.”