- Calls to defund thepolice continue to resonate

across parts of the country.

- CBN National SecurityCorrespondent Eric Philips

joins us now with a closer look.

Eric, those calls mean different things

depending on who you ask.

- Well, they do, John and Jenna.

I spoke to two long-timeveterans in law enforcement

who say if you're talking about defunding

in terms of reallocatingmoney to other areas

that could serve society,then they're onboard.

But if by defunding you meanabolish police departments,

not so much.

- [Jim] This has been a nightmare

that none of us every want to relive.

- [Eric] In discussing the best ways

to ensure public safety, Jim Burch,

President of the NationalPolice Foundation

believes abolishing police departments

would be a catastrophic mistake.

But he says shifting moneyto other agencies could work,

especially when it comes toissues like mental health.

- A police officer only has a few tools

at their disposal to handle any situation

that they come upon.

A mental health crisisis not a great matchup

for a police officer.

- [Eric] But he adds there can be concern.

- Are they gonna be available to respond

at two AM on Saturday morning?

Are they gonna be able torespond on Sunday afternoon?

If police officers areno longer responding

to those calls, who's gonna go and help

that family that's in crisis,

because the last thing any of us want

is to say the police areno longer gonna respond

to these types of problemsand we're gonna shift

this amount of moneyto these organizations,

only to find out that these organizations

who now have this responsibility

themselves say that's notenough money for us to do it.

Now no one's doing it.

(engine revving)

- [Eric] Burch underscoresthat an overhaul

of policing is needed.

- What we're really talking about here

is fundamental change.

We're not talking about something

that you can fix infour hours of training.

We're not talking aboutsomething that you can fix

by giving a lecture to those who are

currently out on the streets today.

We're talking about amajor, fundamental change.

- The number one issue in policing today

is police accountability.

- [Eric] Patrick Oliver leadsthe Criminal Justice Program

at Cedarville University and served

in law enforcement for more than 27 years.

He says fundamental changecomes down to the people.

- Government is best servedby godly men and women

who understand that they're accountable

ultimately to God.

- [Eric] He saysgovernment is God-ordained

and the power an officerwields is second to none.

- So from verbal warning to deadly force,

that's how much discretiona law enforcement officer

has in our society.

That's more than anyother job in our society.

And this job is only for people

who are honorable men that love truth,

who will judge rightly, andwho will do what is right.

- Both men say changingthe landscaping of policing

will be a major effort that has to start

at the local level and perhaps even

with each individual officer.