Recent cases have shown examples of police responding to frivolous calls and only making matters worse. The case of Floyd is a prime example. Floyd was accused of using a fake $20 bill when former officer Derek Chauvin responded to the call and killed him. There have also been many cases of white civilians making false calls when they feel threatened by innocent Black men and women.

Amy Cooper proved to be a part of that problem last month when she called police on Christian Cooper when he asked her to leash her dog in Central Park, as Blavity previously reported. Fortunately, that particular story didn't end in tragedy.

Activists hope defunding the police will stop senseless tragedies by reallocating money to entities that are better equipped to handle incidents that don't require police intervention.

"We call police to roust homeless people from corners and doorsteps, resolve verbal squabbles between family members and strangers alike, and arrest children for behavior that once would have been handled as a school disciplinary issue," Lopez wrote. "We ask police to take accident reports, respond to people who have overdosed and arrest, rather than cite, people who might have intentionally or not passed a counterfeit $20 bill."

Christy E. Lopez

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