If they get it innocently wrong—if they misjudge a situation in real time, or panic—it’s all there on cellphone video, and if they are judged guilty they lose their jobs, their benefits, their pensions; and their families will be left vulnerable. So now instead of doing something when bad things are happening, they feel the temptation to do nothing—to stay in the car or turn away from trouble. Street criminals know that. Not all criminals are stupid—that’s a myth. They are calculating, constantly judging who has the upper hand. They know we are entering a golden age of street crime, with local laws relaxed, systems changed, judges deactivated, streets full of guns, and cops on the defensive. No one says “defund the police” anymore; it doesn’t poll well. Instead they play verbal games and say “redirect resources.” Which means funnel money away from the police and toward whatever programs they dream up to be part of solving the crime problem. The head of New York’s Police Benevolent Association told the Post he saw in this a strategy: “Abolition through attrition.” Get rid of the police by denying them what they need. Considering their importance, we are underfunding the police. They need to increase recruitment, train new cops longer and deeper, and retrain veterans regularly to keep up with changes in the law and equipment. This will be expensive. But Washington is in a spending mood, and it’s less expensive than riots.