Kamala Harris' dream of stopping cops responding to 911 calls resurfaces... and her worrying argument for why the U.S. 'doesn't need a law enforcement response'

Vice President Kamala Harris once promoted the idea where police officers were no longer needed as first responders in American communities, in a surprisingly naive assessment of law enforcement considering her background. 

In June 2019, then-Senator Kamala Harris appeared at the Poor People’s Campaign Forum as a presidential candidate in the Democratic primary where she was asked about demilitarizing police departments across the country.

But Harris appeared interested in taking police departments out of the business of responding to public calls for help such as 911 first response. 

‘[W]e really need to get to a point where communities frankly don’t need, don’t need a law enforcement response to what’s happening in their communities because they are safe communities,’ Harris said.

'Defund the police' advocates argue that a better response to 911 calls would be publicly funded unarmed mental health professionals, to prevent violent clashes with suspected criminals. 

Harris comments about removing law enforcement took place prior to the death of George Floyd while in custody of the Minneapolis Police Department, which inflamed racial tensions with black Americans and the law enforcement community.

Her remarks were directly opposed with the message she sent as a District Attorney in San Francisco and Attorney General of California, where she praised the idea of adding more police officers to communities.

“[I]f we take a show of hands of those who would like to see more police officers on the street, mine would shoot up,” she wrote in her 2009 book ‘Smart on Crime’ where she proposed ways to improve the safety of communities.

‘A more visible and strategic police presence is a deterrent to crime and it has a positive impact on a community,’ she continued.

After Floyd’s death, Harris fully embraced the Black Lives Matter as a movement in June 2020, shifting her position on the use of police force.

‘For far too long the status quo thinking has been to believe that by putting more police on the street you’re going to have more safety. And that’s just wrong, that’s not how it works,’ Harris said.

In an interview with Power 106 Los Angeles host Nick Cannon, Harris indicated she supported idea of completely reimagining the duties of a police officer.

‘We have to reimagine public safety in America,’ Harris said. ‘It’s been upside down, for too long, people have confused achieving public safety with putting more cops on the street.’

Harris also praised Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti for his decision to reduce police funding by $150 million.

“I applaud Mayor Garcetti for doing what he’s done,” she said during an interview with ABC's Good Morning America. 

She called for governments to reevaluate their funding for police departments, suggesting it was a poor use of public funds.

“We’ve got to reexamine what we’re doing with American taxpayer dollars and ask the question, are we getting the right return on our investment? Are we actually creating healthy and safe communities?” Harris asked.