President Joe Biden was in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 30 to deliver an address on his “Safer America” plan. Counter to many of his political allies, Biden has taken a hard-nosed stance against any calls to ‘defund the police,’ a popular phrase and movement during the tumultuous summer of 2020.

The Safer America plan, according to the White House website, will:

1. Fund police and promote effective prosecution of crimes affecting families today.
2. Invest in crime prevention and a fairer criminal justice system. 
3. Takes additional common-sense steps on guns to keep firearms out of dangerous hands. 

This is a brief overview of the plan, but we can begin to understand what the Biden Administration is looking to achieve. He claims that the problem with the police is they are underfunded. If the funding can provide better training for police officers, I believe it may be beneficial, but it is up to what training they receive. 

Will the plan address deep-rooted policing issues, such as the excessive use of force or rapid steps to lethal intervention? Will police not only receive training but be held accountable for bad policing? 

I understand these are broad and vague questions that will require cooperation on a federal and state level, but we should be able to ask them without feeling defeated. I also understand that police have an incredibly difficult job that many of us would not want to do. However, they are also protected to a much larger extent than any other citizen would be. Oftentimes, their overuse of force or misunderstanding of a situation has resulted in too many losing their lives and no accountability falling on the backs of the police officers. As Americans, we must be willing to correct and criticize our police officers. It is irrelevant that they act as public servants if the public is willing to step in and defend wrong actions. 

As more details and implementation of the plan occur, we will finally be able to see whether the Biden Administration can help address the issue of policing with their Safer America plan. It will be a big test for the Biden Administration to deliver on reform that much of the Democratic party is leaning on for success in the midterm and 2024 elections.