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Glendale City Council: We will not defund the police

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Glendale City Council issued a joint statement Monday from the mayor and six council members that the Council has no intention of defunding the police.

In the letter, Council members point to the recent shooting at Westgate Entertainment District and the police’s ability to take the shooter into custody within 10 minutes of receiving a call as a reason the community needs the Glendale Police Department. Three people were shot and injured by the gunman during the May 20 incident, but no one was killed.

“Defund the police” has become a rallying cry of many protesting in the Valley and across the nation in the wake of the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky. In Arizona, protestors are also railing against the killing of Dion Johnson, an unarmed black man shot and killed by a state trooper the same day Mr. Floyd was killed Monday, May 25. Mr. Johnson’s death has not garnered as much national attention as the former two.

While some activists do call for police departments to be disbanded altogether and cities’ public safety systems entirely rebuilt, as is being proposed in Minneapolis, many of those calling to “defund the police” still want a police force, just a smaller one with a smaller budget and less responsibilities. Money would instead go toward areas like housing, education and mental health.

Council’s statement reads, in full:

“Glendale’s City Council has dedicated the last eight years to working with our Police Department to ensure the safety of our citizens. While videos like those of George Floyd are shocking to see and cases like his have appropriately led to murder charges, the public needs to remember that NO ONE hates a bad cop more than a good cop.

We are blessed with an outstanding police force in Glendale, Arizona and we are unalterably opposed to any effort to defund our Police Department. Think back to just a few weeks ago with the shooting at Westgate and the speed and efficiency Glendale Police used to stop the gunman. Now imagine how long it would take for help to arrive in their absence?

Keeping our city safe is job #1 and that is why our police and fire enjoy some of the best compensation packages in the state. They also receive quality training and every officer, from the chief to the newest recruit, understands we are all partners in keeping Glendale as safe as possible from those who would do us harm.

Much as there is a world of difference between peaceful protestors and those intent on burning down buildings and looting local businesses, there is a world of difference between that rare bad cop and a department full of good cops.

We the undersigned continue to support a FULLY FUNDED Police department for as long as we are your community leaders.

In your service,

Mayor Jerry P. Weiers, Vice Mayor Ray Malnar, Councilmember Jamie Aldama, Councilmember Joyce Clark, Councilmember Ian Hugh, Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff, Councilmember Bart Turner.”