Many cops are decent people, but it doesn’t change the fact that we should strive to make cops obsolete. Cops are reactive instead of proactive. Please BEGIN by reducing the budget of the police and refunding the community and proactive services that help people.

10% is a Start. We need to see a Model that reflects the Social requirements of Police Interaction with the Public and that would include Updated Training, Higher Standards on Academy Hiring Practices and possible Social Worker inter-phasing with the Police force.

I believe that most Police officers are decent people but the bad ones need to be removed and there has to be a proper mechanism in place to do that.

Also Community and Mental Support systems need to be seriously reviewed with funding requirements to be implemented.

It’s time!

As a first step it would be helpful to see a staff report providing information on what a 10% reduction in police services funding would do to the current police operations. It would also be helpful to see what that 10% could mean if reallocated elsewhere. I would also be interested in the city exploring the cost/opportunity to move away from the Barrie Police and to the OPP.

In fact I believe it should be more, MUCH more than 10%.

I support reallocating of a portion of the Barrie Police Force funding to mental health, addiction services, food security and affordable housing initiatives. Increased policing of citizens with unmet social determinants of health is a recipe for disaster. I don't think 10% is sufficient but it is a start!

I agree we need to do this

When something is not working, there comes a time when we need to stop throwing money at it. It's time to try something new.

The first step to solve any problem is to acknowledge that there is a problem. Denying its existence will delay its rectification. Identifying the presence of the problem is critical to solving the problem.

This is the first step to improving the safety services in Barrie.
This cannot be the only solution. Systemic racism is real. Start by reallocating the resources.

I support this idea and encourage the city to sincerely take a look at what is possible here instead of dismissing the idea as leftist mumbo-jumbo. The idea of defund (which is really a call for redistribution) is not all that radical. There is a lot of practical, humane sense in it.

You can call it whatever you want.
If it will make everyone feel better.
Demilitarize the police.
Defang the police.
Defund the police.
This isn't about giving them more funding.
Redefine the mission of the police.
There are people in our community that won't call 911 when they feel threatened or vulnerable.
911 isn't a path to being safe.
Think about that while you sit in your house on the lake or on the hill.
Redefine the meaning of public safety.

I just read the agenda for Monday's meeting at City Hall.
Let me see if I have this right?
So they want to assemble a task force made up of racialized people who will give up their time to teach everyone else what should be done, instead of properly auditing the existing program for deficiencies first.
So that they don’t have to do any thinking for themselves, have I got that right, City of Barrie?
Because that is what systemic racism looks like.
It’s infuriating to hear this.

if "defund" bothers you, please think "redirect funds to more appropriate, massively cheaper and less deadly personnel" for all housing, family distress, and mental health issues.
Please research the CAHOOTS program very successfully running for years in Colorado as a model to use here.
Coordinating emergency response teams across silos has been very successful as well in this region
Let's work smart and get out from under this fantasy of blind admiration for all militarized forces.

Big SUV police trucks, police boats etc needs big money. Money can be used more effectively elsewhere.

Long overdue. I will remain optimistic for change.

I firmly believe that a healthy society needs strong proactive measures as opposed to being focused on reactive ones. Strong discussion and consideration of reallocation of funds is an important first step in building a healthier society that benefits us all.

I second Jenna Zardo’s statement!

It's time to listen to the people of Barrie!

This is a good start. We need to go further but I’m glad the conversation will begin.