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- [Reporter] What's happening
in this country right now

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is not a new phenomenon.

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The righteous rage of Black Americans

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over their unforgivable
treatment at the hands of police

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has spilled over into our streets before.

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Each time the unthinkable happens,

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we hear similar calls for reform.

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We certainly need more
police body cameras,

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more civilian oversight committees,

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inherent bias training, and
community-based policing.

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But these things alone

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clearly cannot stop the cycle of violence.

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So, it's worth asking,

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what would it take to make real change?

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The Minneapolis PD pre-George Floyd

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was held up as an example
of a reformed department.

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It was one of six cities
to embrace the changes

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President Obama's DOJ recommended

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after the Ferguson unrest in 2014.

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But that didn't stop George
Floyd from being killed.

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Until very recently, police departments

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were not required to report

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how many citizens were
killed by their officers.

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Even now, it's not clear
that all of them do,

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which means the best
publicly available numbers

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come from databases
maintained by journalists

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at The Washington Post and The Guardian.

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Those estimates show the
numbers are remarkably stable

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over the last few years.

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If our best efforts at
changing the way we police

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have failed, why not try
simply doing less of it?

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The logic is simple,

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if we accept that policing
is inherently dangerous

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and leads to shooting of civilians,

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less policing means fewer killings.

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But defunding the police
has another benefit.

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All that saved money would be free

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to invest back into the community.

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Things like housing,
employment, healthcare,

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trauma services, and
after-school programs.

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For the cost of each suit of riot gear,

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the city could choose
to instead fully protect

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31 doctors and nurses.

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The idea is gaining momentum.

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Last week, in Minneapolis,
the city council announced

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that their reform efforts had failed

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and they planned to disband
their police department.

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And the mayors of New York and
LA have both announced plans

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to cut the budgets of their departments.

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And invest that money
back into the community.

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The police you see on TV today

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certainly don't look like they used to.

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In the wake of Iraq and Afghanistan,

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police departments have been given access

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to all kinds of equipment
originally designed to be used

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by our armed forces
against enemy combatants.

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Images of officers in armored vehicles

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riding against crowds of unarmed citizens

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have become commonplace.

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That's partly down to an initiative

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known as the 1033 Program,

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which has allowed billions of dollars

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worth of surplus military gear

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to be transferred to local
police departments for free.

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Thousands of assault rifles, bayonets,

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grenade launchers, forced entry tools,

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and bomb detonator robots
on American streets.

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Some studies have shown
that just the presence

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of this equipment can
make policing more violent

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and likely to target communities of color.

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While President Obama made some progress

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in restricting the transfer
of military gear to cops,

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President Trump has reversed the rollback.

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Not only are we sending military gear

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directly from our armed
forces to the police,

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but in some cases, we permit them tactics

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which are banned even
to soldiers in wartime.

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In 1993, the Geneva
Convention classified tear gas

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as a chemical weapon and banned
its use on the battlefield.

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And yet, it's used by police forces

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across the country to break up crowds,

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remains perfectly legal and widespread.

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It's not just the equipment,

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it's also a militaristic mentality

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that develops from training.

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John DeCarlo, a professor
of criminal justice

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and an ex-officer who
reformed his police force

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says there are signs of a
military culture in policing,

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an us versus them mentality,

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which is dangerous when
translated to a community setting.

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Both of these issues
could be easily addressed.

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Our police forces should
not use the same equipment

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or tactics that our military
uses on enemy combatants

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on the very citizens they
are sworn to protect.

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But there is a case to be made

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for going even further than that.

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Some experts argue

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we should completely
disarm our police forces.

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While the idea may sound
radical, there is precedent.

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You could argue that it's
the UK's strict gun laws

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that make unarmed policing possible.

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But in Iceland, 15th in
the world in gun ownership

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per capita, the police also
patrol with only a baton.

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Some would say that it can work in Iceland

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because Iceland is a small,
mostly homogenous country

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with a strong social safety net

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and thus little poverty
and a low crime rate.

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Which brings us to our final point.

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Substantial research suggests countries

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with robust social safety nets

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experience less violent
crime than those without.

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In the US, we have higher
rates of murder, robbery,

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burglary, and rape than most
other industrialized nations.

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Perhaps partially because
of our lack of safety net.

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The social safety net
has outsized importance

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for black families because
institutional racism

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is not limited to the police force.

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Over the last 30 years,

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black home ownership
has actually decreased,

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while the wealth the gap
between white and black families

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is getting worse, not better.

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And staggeringly, the median
net worth for black families

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is $3,557, or 2% of the median
net worth for white families.

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Which means that the average
black family in America

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is one minor economic
setback away from tragedy.

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A stronger safety net could
help countless families

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avoid that tragedy.

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But politicians have been gutting

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those programs for decades.

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They say we can't afford it.

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They say food stamps dissuade poor people

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from trying to find jobs.

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They argue that paying a living wage

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would kill small businesses.

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Combine all of that with the overpolicing

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of black Americans on drug charges

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and you can start to
understand why black Americans

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make up 12% of the overall population,

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and 33% of the prison population.

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If the numbers don't convince
you that a stronger safety net

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can save lives, maybe a story will.

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A 46-year-old man lived
peacefully in Minnesota.

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He made an honest living
working as a bouncer

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and truck driver.

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On March 28th, as the governor
issued a stay-at-home order,

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shutting down the businesses he worked at,

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that man lost his job and his income.

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If he had lived in say,
Denmark, he would have qualified

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for up to four years of
full unemployment benefits.

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But, for whatever reason,

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and partially because he lived here,

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he was accused of buying cigarettes

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with an allegedly counterfeit $20 bill.

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He was arrested and then he was killed.

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His name was George.