Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo on Tuesday said he does not support “defund the police” efforts, saying vulnerable communities can be the ones who need proper policing the most.
“Well, no — I mean, it’s a false equivalence,” Chief Acevedo said on NBC’s “Today” program. “I would tell the elected officials that knee-jerk reactions [are] not what the community is wanting.”
“It’s not an either/or proposition — it’s let’s make sure that we support the good police and most importantly hold accountable the bad [police],” he said. “It’s not one or the other.”
Some localities across the country, including Los Angeles, New York, and Minneapolis, have eyed cuts to police in the wake of the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police, sparking protests nationwide and globally.
Chief Acevedo said communities don’t want “less police” but rather “good policing.”
He also said people who “need the police most will be the one[s] that pay the price for this notion that we need to get rid of the police.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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