With ongoing protests across the country calling for police departments to be defunded and disbanded, the conversation is also gaining traction in the sunshine state, as Florida Rep. Val Demings (D), a former police chief and shortlister to become former Vice President Joe Biden’s (D) pick for VP, has touted the idea of disbanding police departments as “thoughtful.”
In addition, to ease rising tension and showcase his work as Broward Sheriff, Gregory Tony recently released an advertisement highlighting the work he’s done to induce a higher standard to policing.
Now, Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) is adding his voice to the conversations, noting that things have dramatically changed since his time as Florida Governor and he’s warning that the ideas being debated in the political arena are dangerous.
Questioning “the idea that we’re gonna get more security by getting rid of the police” during an interview, Senator Scott admitted that “the left has just gone off a deep end.”
He went on to explain his views by saying that the country has “wonderful police. Are there bad apples that do the wrong thing? Absolutely. We’ve gotta get rid of them.”
Senator Scott added that he’s been involved with conversations with law enforcement, and their response is that “they’re disgusted with what happened.” However, Scott made the distinction that “if you want anarchy, if you want more crime, defund the police.”
He concluded that he’s “completely opposed to” the idea of defunding and disbanding police departments in the state of Florida and in the country.” In fact, he wants “to fund the police. I want to support our police. I want more accountability. I want to make sure the people of this country are gonna be safe.”
This comes at a time when President Trump is expected to sign a police reform executive order, telling reporters on Monday that “the overall goal is we want law and order and we want it done fairly, justly.”
