ABSTRACT
Accelerated by the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, many have called for defunding the police, a phrase that evades clear definition. Although defunding, reforming, reimagining, and transforming the police are often used almost interchangeably, they call for very different means, methods, solutions, and end-points. Law enforcement in the United States is a reflection of its past and with over 18,000 separate law enforcement agencies in the country, each with independent leadership, there are over 18,000 unique reflections of that past. Several police reform initiatives gained multistate support. Advocates of reimagining the police posit that armed law enforcement officers should be applied only when circumstances require their presence and their weapon.
