With all the anti-police rhetoric floating around, it’s not surprising that some departments might get disbanded. That’s what a lot of people all over the nation have been calling for, after all. Anti-police activists seem to think that if the police departments go away, so will all of their problems.

That’s what folks in East Pittsburgh thought. They advocated for their local police department to be shut down. They got what they wanted, too.

It seems that they’re now regretting that decision.

The dissolution of the police department had been a part of borough council discussions for years, but the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Rose by East Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld on June 19, 2018 brought the matter to a head.

The incident kicked off mass protests with accusations of racism because Officer Rosfeld is white, and Rose was black.

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The East Pittsburgh Police Department was then completely dissolved under community pressure, which resulted in Officer Rosfeld losing his job along with other officers.

In March, a jury found former Officer Rosfeld not guilty of all charges stemming from the fatal shooting of Rose after just four hours of deliberations.

But almost five months later, residents of East Pittsburgh have found themselves in a dangerous pickle, having gotten rid of its police force before a local alternative was put in place.

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The community has continued to complain about the lack of police presence on their streets and there’s no concrete plan as of yet to solve the problem.

The problem is that troopers aren’t going to just patrol East Pittsburgh. They have a large area to cover, and they weren’t going to assign officers just to the community. While they’ll respond to calls in East Pittsburgh, they don’t have extra troopers to dedicate specifically to local law enforcement.

As a result of this, crime has increased in the city, and response times have increased as well.

Shocking, I know.

The truth is, the reason police patrol the streets is to deter crime from happening. Without that presence, criminals feel emboldened. They know they’ll have plenty of time to get away after committing a crime, which increases the likelihood of them doing so. Further, they’re right, which means they’ll be free to commit future crimes.

All because the community freaked out over a shooting before waiting for all the facts.

Every single life lost in East Pittsburgh since their department disbanded rests on those who agitated for such an act. Every act of violence puts blood on their hands as well. They laid the groundwork for the anarchy that’s growing in East Pittsburgh.

The question is, will other anti-police activists learn from this?

Probably not. They tend to be rather pie-in-the-sky about the effects of no policing, somehow believing that a lack of police officers will somehow bring about Utopia or some other such nonsense. They don’t think there will be a real, tangible cost should they get their way.

There is, and while I agree that bad cops should be shut down and hit hard, the good ones are the reason some of them are alive today even if they don’t know it.

Hat tip: The Truth About Guns