After participating in a roundtable the Newport News/Hampton Chapter held with Rep. Bobby Scott, Cher Denton wrote the following op-ed about concerns she still has about federal and state responses to this crisis.
From the article in the Daily Press and Virginian-Pilot:
“First, as far as I can see, there are no regulations on medical facilities in their response tactics, and no economic plan for how funding will be distributed, nor an oversight process. There are no patient discharge protocols for COVID-19 patients upon leaving the hospital, especially those with other health conditions. There are no transportation and other services so COVID-19 patients can safely isolate themselves and still take care of their daily living needs.
“For example, a relative of mine with COVID-19 needs dialysis treatment, but was sent home without any discharge instructions, other than isolation, and no transportation plan for treatment, or delivery services for survival needs. It’s very difficult to figure out how to care for him or get him to a dialysis facility that will accept COVID-19 patients. The only transportation company willing to deal with patients is centralized in New York, which means they have to drive to Virginia to render services. It’s overwhelming.”
She also describes all of the issues around schools reopening, saying, “Some schools are of poor structural quality and lack sufficient ventilation to conduct classes using appropriate social distancing measures. There is no school disciplinary structure to handle students who won’t comply with wearing masks and/or other COVID-19 precaution methods. How will local schools sanitize appropriately without funding?”
Finally, after Rep. Scott defended “community policing,” Cher made clear the troubling lack of positive results these programs have had and called for new alternatives.
“We want to defund community policing programs because the research shows they were a waste of money that could be used by other effective programs. See the 2007 study in Criminology, for example. The Washington Post published a column by Terrell Jermaine Starr in 2015 summing up the research on how community policing makes crime worse.
“The COPS program gave grants until 2005 to create school resource officers and saturated police into public schools, treating students like criminals instead of developing children. So, I’m very dismayed that he wouldn’t be for defunding community policing programs at the very least.
“I would like for him to view the proposals made by the Durham Beyond Policing Coalition, which gives several research-based alternatives proven to be effective instead of supporting ineffective policing programs.”
