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Shifting money from law enforcement to programs related to education, mental health, and housing drawing opposition

“When we are talking about defunding police, it means a reduction in the budget,” said Bill Gibbons with the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission

MEMPHIS, Tennessee —

George Floyd’s murder has people in hundreds of cities and towns in all 50 states talking. Conversations are always the same. How can something like Floyd’s murder, and all the other African American murders at the hands of police, stop?

Defunding police, cutting cop budgets, is something people are talking about.

Bill Gibbons, former District Attorney, former Director of Tennessee Public Safety, is now in charge of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission.

“When we are talking about defunding police, it means a reduction in the budget. That means those law enforcement agencies will have to do less than they do now. And I think the majority of the public feels they should be doing more, not less,” Gibbons said.

Gibbons still stands behind a crime commission study of a few years ago that said Memphis needed more cops on the streets.

“There’s pretty much a consensus among law enforcement who look at this, including those affiliated with the crime commission, that we need about 2,300 police officers,” Gibbons said.

Gibbons is in favor of honest, no holds barred, conversations.

“We can have discussion, but I think the public needs to understand that if we move in that (defunding) direction, there are going to be some repercussions,” Gibbons claimed.

RELATED: What would defunding the Memphis Police Department and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office look like?

RELATED: Some cities considering defunding police departments

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