Cities considering defunding and abolishing their police departments are pondering municipal hara-kiri.
Local governments are generally financed in large part by sales and property taxes. Sales taxes come from commerce. Commercial property taxes are paid by businesses. The value of residential property, which establishes the tax rate, is in large part a result of demand for that property from employed families able to pay mortgages.
Without employers the economy of a city collapses.
How many employers can realistically be expected to stay in a community that has no police service? Even if such a business were willing to pay for sufficient private security to protect their staff and property, what insurance company would sell a business with no police service liability coverage?
In the end, a city that does away with its police department would, after losing its tax base and employable citizens, end up at best in Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy under the control of a court, or at worst, de-incorporated.
Residents of cities pondering defunding the police might consider asking their elected officials how many employers have agreed to stay with no police.