If you are a White person and think calls to reform or even defund police departments sound ridiculous, or extreme, might I request that you consider the following:
If you are not Black, or do not live in a predominantly Black neighborhood, then how are you getting information about what is happening in the Black community? Is it from Black people in those communities? If not, why not? Is your source a Black person you know personally or is it via mass media or reposted social media? How reliable is your information and the perspective it brings?
What is different in their experience that would lead them to such a proposal? Perhaps, the danger you foresee in a police-less state, already exists in some communities. If you lived in a violent neighborhood, and the police department is part of that violence, is it really crazy to want to change? Or crazy to want to shut down a department?
Have you read the Ferguson Report?
Do not assume that those calling for these measures are stupid, or that you are simply smarter than them.
Brohammas 