Defunding the Police
If the Movement to Disband or Defund the Police Sticks,
How Will We Keep Our People Safe?
Yesterday, Mike Kucharski, one of the owners of JKC Trucking announced to various News outlets that his company will not send delivery trucks into cities that have a compromised police force. He took this stand because he is refusing to risk the safety of his employees and the cargo of his clients by entering cities that are defunding - or disbanding as in the cases of Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis – their police force.
This struck a chord with me because our industry’s market is primarily intercity/intrastate. We rely on hubs like Los Angeles and New York and these cities, among many others, are acting swiftly in the wake of the George Floyd killing to make sweeping changes that will impact our protections and change the dynamics of our city streets. Just two months ago, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled a proposal to divert up to $150 million from the Police Department’s budget to social programs. Meanwhile New York’s Mayor Bill DeBlasio announced a $1 Billion police budget cut.
The scenes we have all witnessed this summer, out of control riots from coast-to-coast, paint a horrific visual of what’s to become of our cities if plans to disband or financially cripple our police departments sticks. The messaging to our men and women in blue is bad as well. Just take Buffalo, New York for example. After curfew, a belligerent protestor was pushed by an emergency responder and fell to the ground. The officer, who put his life on the line, was chastised. Immediately 57 officers turned in their resignations rendering the citizens of that city seriously compromised.
You could argue that WE have a bullseye on our back. We operate our services using expensive vehicles that attract attention. Our precious cargo ranges from executives in the C-suite to young people enjoying a night out to employees of corporations and senior citizens. Those are only the people in the back of our vehicles! We also have to be vigilant about the safety of our drivers and chauffeurs. They are our #1 asset.
Sadly, this is something real that we have to reconcile with. We have liability matters to contend with on this issue as well. We have a moral responsibility to our people. We have a fiscal responsibility to our businesses. Now is the time to talk about this issue and to pull our leaders together to strategize about for the future wellbeing of our own transportation community.
Stay Safe,
Sara Eastwood-Richardson
