Commentary: Defund the Police Now. How do we stop police killings of Black people before they happen? Three words: Defund the police. In 2016, the City Council in Columbus, Mississippi, spent $10.4 million, or about 48 percent of its general expenditures, on public safety, which includes the police and fire departments. This funding was used for law enforcement salaries, training, and equipment. But none of this spending led to a safer Columbus. Murder, robbery, and sex crimes have been at their highest since 2012, according to Columbus Police Department statistics. More police officers with more training and more equipment did not decrease crime. That is because crime is a response to social conditions. More policing cannot fix social conditions; only investments in communities can.

‘I Am Feeling Scared and Alone.’ The Reopening of America Leaves Behind Prisoners Who Remain at Risk of COVID-19. When Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that the state would reopen a wide variety of businesses, from bars to rodeos to child care centers, he dismissed a spike in COVID-19 infections as the result of increased testing. Nevertheless, he cautioned that Texans should continue social distancing, and practicing sanitation and strong hygiene habits. “It is a fact that these safe practices save lives,” Abbott said. Those instructions are virtually meaningless to the more than 160,000 people incarcerated across the state—and, by extension, to people who work in correctional facilities and then go home to their families and communities after work. Even as Abbott loosens restrictions, prisoners in the state’s detention centers continue to report dire conditions inside those facilities.

Coronavirus in Jails and Prisons. Despite early warnings, jails and prisons have seen a rapid spread of the virus—a humanitarian disaster that puts all of our communities, and lives, at risk. Every day, The Appeal is examining the scale of the crisis, numbers of infected and dead, around the nation.