'Very necessary': Morgan Freeman defends police, slams Defund the Police movement
Actor Morgan Freeman said he does not support the Defund the Police movement and thinks that police are “very necessary.”
“I’m not in the least bit for defunding the police,” Freeman said in an interview with Black Enterprise. “Police work is, aside from all the negativity around it, it is very necessary for us to have them, and most of them are guys that are doing their job. They’re going about their day-to-day jobs. There are some police the never pulled their guns except in rage, that sort of thing. I don’t know.”
Earlier this year, Freeman donated $1 million to the University of Mississippi to study evidence based police reform.
“Look at the past year in our country – that sums it up,” Freeman said. “It’s time we are equipping police officers with training and ensuring ‘law enforcement’ is not defined only as a gun and a stick. Policing should be about that phrase ‘To Serve’ found on most law enforcement vehicles.”
The Defund the Police movement is not popular with the American public. Recent polling showed that only 18% of Americans support the movement.