Over just a few weeks, the phrase “defund the police” has entered the debate about local law enforcement in cities across the U.S., and some public officials have begun to embrace the slogan. In Minneapolis, for instance, the City Council pledged this week to revamp or replace the department whose officers were charged with the death of George Floyd. Many Americans, however, have been startled by the defunding notion, to say nothing of the calls that also have been heard in the recent protests to “abolish the police.”
The…