Houston mayor: “We need more police officers”
At protests around the country, demonstrators are calling to defund and demilitarize the American police.
But Sylvester Turner, mayor of Houston, Texas, suggested the opposite earlier this week — that we actually need more police.
“We need more police officers,” he said in a video statement. “Most of our people in our community are saying we need more.”
“It’s not the question of how many or defunding. What people want and they deserve is good policing — they’re wanting police officers who are recognized that every single person, every community is important. Everyone needs to be respected. So they want good policing. They want accountability. And they want a system that they can believe in. That’s what’s important,” he said.
It’s not just Turner — Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms made a similar statement this week.
“We need police on our streets. We need them in our communities,” she said. “We can’t let these bad actors overshadow the partnership that we’re supposed to have with our police departments.”
Source CNN
