———

The mainstream media have given an awful lot of attention to “defund the police” advocates on the left, including politicians, liberal commentators, and activists. But outside of New York City, we haven’t heard much from officers on the ground in cities like Minneapolis as to what the movement to dismantle their departments is doing to officer morale and how it impacts the violent crime rate, which is now soaring in places like Chicago.

Minneapolis police officer Rich Walker, who is Black, gave testimony in front of Minnesota state senators Wednesday that should be listened to by everyone, especially Democrat politicians like AOC who are quick to call officers murderers and racists who don’t care about their communities.

The Star Tribune reported on what Walker and other officers had to say:

Minneapolis po­lice un­ion lead­ers told state sena­tors Wednes­day they felt a­ban­doned by city lead­ers dur­ing the ci­vil un­rest in May that followed the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed in police custody.

“This needs to be talked about. These of­fic­ers need to be de­fend­ed,” Minneapolis Police Sgt. Anna Hed­berg said as she de­scribed watch­ing the city’s Third Pre­cinct police station burn.

[…]

Officer Rich Walker said “pol­i­tics got in the way” of the re­sponse of city and state officials. He described being de­mor­al­iz­ed watching the Third Pre­cinct build­ing being a­ban­doned, o­ver­run by pro­test­ers and set ablaze on May 28, three nights after Floyd’s death.

Walker, who is Black, said union members told him around noon that day that the department was giving up the Third Precinct. He went to pick up equipment and described the scene of police employees unplugging computers and taking down pictures. “That is the straw that broke our department’s back,” he said.

In the clip below, Walker talked about how the officers left on the force have been demoralized, and how officers there are “scared to death” that they’re going to be the “next incident” and will not get support from leaders in the aftermath.

He also discussed how defunding efforts by the Minneapolis City Council would cut about 200 officers from the force, which would be devastating. Walker pleaded with the state senators he was speaking in front of to support the MPD because the “city leaders” they were sworn to protect had abandoned them.

Watch below:

Minneapolis Officer Rich Walker describes the havoc Democrats' insane push to defund the police is having on police officers:

“Our morale has never been lower … The hatred for [us] has never been more evident. Right now, it’s Minneapolis. But it’s spreading." pic.twitter.com/IGrSf1nDjk

— Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) July 17, 2020

In the second clip, Walker talked about how violent crimes including murder have skyrocketed since Memorial Day in Minneapolis. “We have had close to 20 homicides,” Walker stated. “We have had upwards of 140 people shot in our city since Memorial Day […] We’re averaging two to three shootings a day.”

“Criminals are emboldened,” he went on to say, with the clear meaning behind it being criminals are emboldened to act because of the lack of respect shown to law enforcement by city leaders:

Minneapolis police officer:

“Crime is rampant in Minneapolis right now. It is lawlessness…the criminals are emboldened to do whatever they want to do. Open air drug sales, gun violence, robberies, assaults—it’s almost every 20 minutes.”

Joe Biden won't condemn this madness! pic.twitter.com/i1Uuym8HCL

— Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) July 17, 2020

This is absolutely heartbreaking. Unfortunately, similar scenarios are also playing out in big cities across America because the Democrat leaders in those cities would rather virtue signal and cater to liberal rage mobs than to act responsibly and point out that police reform does not have to equal eliminating entire police departments. As Black leaders in Minneapolis recently pointed out, defunding them would only make matters worse for all communities including the ones that have the most contentious relationships with law enforcement.

Related/Flashback –>> Fed up Minneapolis Woman Gives Interview That Every Riot Apologist in the Mainstream Media Should Watch