Ex-FBI Agent Tracy Walder on DOJ Cuts to Community Policing and Prison Rape Prevention Programs

Cuts to Community Policing Programs

• 🎯 Community policing programs, designed to embed officers within communities to work alongside police and reduce violent crime, are facing significant cuts.
• 💡 Tracy Walder expresses concern, stating these programs are demonstrably effective in large cities like Chicago and New York, and should not be eliminated entirely.
• ⚠️ While acknowledging mixed data from a decade ago, Walder argues that current successes in cities like Chicago, reporting the lowest homicides in six years, are partly due to these grassroots, federally funded efforts.
• 🔍 She suggests that funding decisions should be made on a city-by-city or state-by-state basis, rather than broad eliminations.

Impact on Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Funding

• ⛓️ Funding for programs supporting the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) is also being cut, which Walder finds shocking, especially following investigations into sexual assaults at FCI Dublin.
• 🚨 The elimination of PREA funding means no more training for officers and prison employees on preventing such behavior, nor assistance for victims within the prison system.
• 📈 This lack of support can lead to higher recidivism rates among survivors who lack coping tools, perpetuating a cycle of violence.

Systemic Issues and Future Implications

• 💔 Walder fears that the cuts to PREA will allow prisons to continue engaging in abusive behavior without oversight, which she describes as horrifying.
• 🗣️ Survivors report that abuse is not unique to one facility and continues in new prisons, with community organizers noting rampant retaliation against women transferred after prison closures.
• 🚫 The cuts essentially give prisons a "free pass" to continue harmful practices without accountability.