(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Watch Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez simplify why defunding the police works [1] ['Daily Kos Staff', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-19 Unlike the misguided vengeance model championed by people like Adams, the restorative justice initiative hopes to use a “cure violence” model that employs preventative medical care and not simply incarceration. When Ocasio-Cortez announced new funding for the program’s mental health services in 2021, she explained: “When you actually open the door to a jail, and look at who’s inside, an enormous amount of people are dealing with untreated mental health issues. And it is not acceptable for us to use jails as garbage bins for human beings.” Klepper notes what Ocasio-Cortez seems to be talking about is a “preventative medicine” approach, which the United States has historically eschewed. “It’s not exactly our thing,” Klepper jokes. AOC agrees and says the majority of people working on this project are social workers, therapists, case workers, as well as formerly incarcerated folks. Klepper then mused about the Fox News’ headline, “AOC tries to defund the police and fund gang members,” to which Ocasio-Cortez responded, “If I spent my time worried about what Fox News said, I wouldn't be here.” You can watch the entire interview below. Transcript: Jordan Klepper: I met with the congresswoman at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx to discuss its Stand Up to Violence program, which has shown an impressive 46% reduction in retaliatory violence in its first few years. As a Democrat focused on violence, isn't that off brand? Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Well, I'm from the Bronx, so it's on brand for where I'm from. Klepper: There is a lot of discussion around what progressives can do about violence in a big city. Ocasio-Cortez: What the data has showed us is that if you respond to violence as a public health issue instead of as an incarceration issue, violence decreases. And that's what we're doing here at Jacobi Hospital. Klepper: Are there cops here at the hospital that are addressing the issue? Ocasio-Cortez: Hell no. Klepper: Okay. Ocasio-Cortez: There's security presence and police presence that is standard in any hospital. But that's not what this program is about. In the traditional response to an incidence of violence, a shooting or a stabbing, you may go to the E.R. real quick. You get patched up and then you go straight to the precinct. What we decided to do is that we said, "Hey, let's shift the response and see what happens when we make the center of response a hospital instead of a jail." Klepper: When a patient comes to the E.R. with a gunshot wound, the Stand Up to Violence team works with the victim and members of the community to prevent violent retaliation. You're essentially talking about "preventative medicine" here. Ocasio-Cortez: It is. It absolutely is. Klepper: Which in America, it's not exactly our thing. When you look at the health care of it, we're not known for that. We're more of a reactive medicine society. Ocasio-Cortez: And, you know, we have caseworkers, we have social workers, we have therapists, and we also have people who themselves were once incarcerated. Some of our most effective people in this work are the former gang members. People who formerly spent time at Rikers. Klepper: I can hear how Fox News would spin this as, "AOC tries to defund the police and fund gang members." Ocasio-Cortez: If I spent my time worried about what Fox News said, I would–I mean, I wouldn't be here. Klepper: We're here in New York City and you're talking about funding violence prevention outside of the police. And yet Eric Adams has just increased police wages by 28%. Is that misplaced? Ocasio-Cortez: I think so. We are now at a point where officially most officers are paid more than a teacher with a master's degree serving these same kids involved in these same incidents. We are defunding safety. Defunding our public schools. Defunding our public pools. Defunding our parks. Defunding our libraries. When we are taking all of those resources and demanding that every single department except the militarized one be cut, we are sending a message about who and what we care about. RELATED STORIES: Marco Rubio questions Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s work ethic and gets a lesson in work ethic AOC questions why Oversight Committee is only focused on blue state investigations Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez schools Meghan McCain and rest of ‘The View’ on what socialism actually is The Daily Show went to an anti-mask rally so you don't have to. Here's what happened Markos and Kerry are joined by Aaron Rupar today to discuss what he is seeing in the right-wing media landscape. Rupar is an independent journalist whose Public Notice Substack is a must-read for those who want to know how truly outrageous the conservative movement is. We are addicted to his Twitter account, with its never-ending stream of Republican lunacy all captured on video. 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