Police Killings
Police killings remain a major problem in America. But with Choice Taxation, we’ll be able to significantly reduce the number of Americans police routinely kill.
In the five years since the world watched a Minneapolis police officer nonchalantly murder George Floyd in broad daylight — while a crowd of horrified onlookers begged him to stop — police killings in America have remained a serious issue. In fact, they’ve only gotten worse. The number of Americans killed by law enforcement has risen every year since Floyd’s death, culminating in 2024 with 1,260 deaths. And, as is the case with most problems in America, we have Republicans to thank for that.
After the Floyd protests sparked demands to defund the police, Republicans quickly smeared the movement, painting it as a woke socialist plot hatched by Antifa to destroy America — or some such bullshit. (I’d be remiss, though, if I didn’t point out how quickly Republicans started screeching about defunding the police after the FBI showed up at a certain goofy orange billionaire’s Florida home to retrieve stolen property.) Republicans then used that smear to win elections and sabotage any meaningful attempt at police reform.
Republican hysterics, hyperbole, and hypocrisy aside, the defund movement is simply a commonsense call by activists asking lawmakers to take a sizable chunk of the money used to fund America’s police state and reallocate it into programs designed to address the social problems that most frequently lead to a police interaction. These include:
Poverty (adults in poverty are three times more likely to be arrested than those who aren’t),
Homelessness (unhoused people are 11 times more likely to be arrested than those with housing—a problem now exacerbated by the Republican-owned and -operated Supreme Court upholding the criminalization of homelessness),
Mental health crises (up to 10% of all police calls involve someone experiencing a mental health emergency),
Substance abuse (in 2023, there were 763,756 arrests for simple possession of a controlled substance).
As activists have long asserted, properly funded entitlement programs can alleviate and mitigate all of those problems and, in the process, decrease the number of interactions between the public and police. That, in turn, will reduce the number of police killings.
But we’ll never have well-funded entitlement programs as long as Republicans have a say. And while our current system will always allow them that say, Choice Taxation will not.
If your not familiar with the Choice Taxation, you'll find a guide to it here, but for now here’s all you need to know:
Under the plan, the government would no longer control entitlement programs. Instead, those critical programs would be governed entirely by four new partisan tax systems: the Progressive Tax System, the Democrat Tax System, the Republican Tax System, and the MAGA Tax System. Each system would be free to create, fund, and manage its own entitlement programs — without input or interference from the government or members of the other tax systems.
This means both the Progressive and Democrat Tax Systems would be able to develop and properly fund the kinds of programs that ensure their members have access to healthcare, housing, and social support services. In doing so, they’d significantly reduce the number of interactions their members have with police.
Some examples:
To reduce poverty-related interactions, both systems could establish a universal basic income (UBI) program — something Republicans obsessively fight against. They claim, without evidence (as is their signature M.O.), that such programs discourage work. Researchers and reality reveal the opposite to be true.. Still, Republicans remain staunchly opposed to UBI, and in at least six states, they’ve looked into banning it altogether.
To reduce homelessness-related interactions, the Progressive and Democrat Tax Systems could implement robust housing voucher and rental assistance programs. The current government-run Housing Choice Voucher program is chronically underfunded, with waitlists of more than eight years not uncommon. And at a time when over 21 million of America’s 42.5 million renter households are rent-burdened — meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing — the Trump administration has proposed cutting rental aid by about 40% and imposing a two-year cap on rental assistance for able-bodied adults.
To reduce mental health and substance-related interactions, the two systems could create healthcare programs: Progressives might choose Medicare for All, while moderate Democrats might strengthen Obamacare by undoing Republican sabotage. Thanks to Republicans (and Joe fucking Lieberman), America’s version of universal healthcare isn’t actually universal — over 27 million Americans remain uninsured. That’s the primary reason why two-thirds of those with mental health conditions can't get the care they need. Even those who do manage to access treatment often have it prematurely cut off by private insurers arguing that “improvement” means further care is no longer necessary. Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” would only make matters worse, pushing millions more into the ranks of the uninsured.
To reduce unnecessary police responses, both systems could create their own civilian response teams, modeled after the STAR (Support Team Assisted Response) program in Denver, CO. STAR sends paramedics, mental health professionals, social workers, and other trained civilians to handle certain nonviolent 911 calls — keeping police out of situations they’re not equipped to handle. STAR hasn’t just reduced unnecessary police interactions; it’s also reduced petty crimes by a third. Programs like it save lives and leave communities safer, but they only exist in a handful of cities. Under Choice Taxation, the Progressive and Democrat Tax Systems could make versions of these programs available to their member in cities and towns across the country. In doing so, they could ensure that civilian responders, instead of armed agents of the state, showed up when their members were in need of help or in the midst of a crisis.
Were it up to Republicans, police killings in this country would continue unchecked. But with Choice Taxation, the Progressive and Democrat Tax Systems would be free to create entitlement programs that would protect people in crisis, and significantly limit police interactions.
Fewer interactions means fewer police killings — and fewer police killings means a safer America for everyone.
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