The tragedy in Uvalde has been a flashpoint in the debate over gun control. But attention also fell on the police’s extremely delayed response to the shooting, which has drawn unanimous condemnation from both sides of the aisle. The left, in particular, has renewed its calls to defund the police from the height of Black Lives Matter in the summer of 2020.
In the very first sentence, Olurin says of the events, “There has never been a clearer demonstration of police ineptitude, dishonesty, failure, and callous disregard for our lives” However, later in the article she claims that this response was not, “a matter of gross incompetence, lack of training, lack of resources, or even cowardice.” She can’t make up her mind on whether it was a matter of incompetent cops or not, which it obviously is. She just doesn’t like cops.
It’s easy to proclaim these extreme black-and-white solutions to complex problems, such as “less guns”, “defund the police” or others. The fact of the matter is that this incident does not justify resorting to gutting our police departments in Uvalde or across the nation. This shooting is emblematic of a much larger problem with how young men are raised and exist in this country. Anyone who claims to have an absolute air-tight answer to the problem of mass shootings is lying to you.
From most accounts, the police did an absolutely horrible job in Uvalde. But it is just as insane to suggest defunding police will make the police do a better job of protecting and serving. The purpose of the police is to protect us. They must be made better, especially now as the Uvalde shooting showed a glaring and fatal flaw in their procedure. Even democrats dropped the rhetoric of defunding police because they knew it was an insane policy recommendation.
Real solutions to major social issues aren’t published on Teen Vogue. This is a prime example of pure sophistry and, as much as Olurin denies it, the politicization of a mass shooting.
