Bo knows that protecting our liberty and democracy should always be our first priority. He will fight to strengthen our military to ensure a safe future for generations of North Carolinians to come.

 

Bo does not believe that “defunding” the police will increase community safety. Bo has facilitated mental health training for law enforcement officers and first responders for years to increase knowledge and empathy, and build trust between officers and vulnerable populations. Systemic issues perpetuating unnecessary law enforcement interactions that lead to lethal force can be addressed and fixed from the top-down. Bo believes in common sense solutions to community safety that include allocating more funds for police departments to use for training officers, especially in hand-to-hand combat, mental healthcare services for officers, and higher wages, which will benefit the whole community by decreasing stress on officers.

 

From the perspective of community members, ending felony disenfranchisement in the economy and in voting, ending the prohibition of cannabis, ending the crack/cocaine disparity in sentencing guidelines, reforming the credit system so that it is more equitable, and banning solitary confinement in federal prisons (while providing incentives for other prisons as well) will all help to achieve lower crime rates and safer communities. Federal funding for community oversight committees of policing will also help to increase trust between law enforcement and the citizens they are sworn to protect.