APOA - Op Ed Daniel Stuebs

Opinion: Pro-Law and Order Citizens Should Vote Yes! on Missouri Amendment 4

Throughout 2020 and 2021, the ‘Defund the Police’ movement took root throughout the United States.  Many Democrat run cities did manage to successfully defund their police departments.  

But in one state, there is a ballot initiative in the upcoming November elections that supports our heroic law enforcement and gives them the support and resources they deserve to do their job well and to do it safely. This ballot initiative is Missouri Amendment 4.  

Missouri Amendment 4 will allow the state legislature to mandate that a city increase the budget of the police department. The proposition was created in a direct response to Kansas City’s attempt to defund the police department and reallocate the funds to other crime prevention programs. Though the amendment does not mention Kansas City directly, this attempt at defunding is the reason state legislators came together to create this bill.   

American Police Officers Alliance urges Missouri residents to help pass this measure. As we have seen in cities that have defunded their police departments, crime has dramatically increased. With the rise in crime, many of these cities are reversing their previous defunding efforts. In other states, like Missouri, the state legislature wants to have an amendment to the defunding of the police departments.  

This pro-law enforcement grassroots organization has been vocal in its disapproval of the defunding movement.  Their series of mini informational videos, titled “Exposing the Anti-Police Agenda,” brings the history of the anti-police narrative within the nation since 2020 to light and educates the public on the dangers of this rhetoric. The website reads “Now is the time to act. We must expose their anti-police agenda so everyone can make more informed decisions at the ballot box… It’s vital to understand the truth about the anti-police movement, the influence it is having on our society, and the danger it poses to America if we don’t elect more politicians that support law enforcement.

This is a positive amendment for the state of Missouri and for the state’s law enforcement. We urge all Kansas residents to get to the polls and Vote YES! for Amendment Four. A vote for Amendment 4 is a vote to protect our local police departments from overzealous and anti-cop politicians.