SUMMIT, IL – Mike Kucharski, the co-owner of JKC Trucking, joined Fox News to discuss his companies decision not to run routes in cities that defund the police. 

Kucharski said:

“Our first priority is to support our drivers and their safety when they are on the road,” 

Pointing to the high value of the cargo that his drivers have in and on their trailers, he said:

“Defunding the police is a bad idea, because when you are on the road for weeks and days at a time…with valuable cargo, everybody wants to steal this. When you are a truck driver long enough on the road, there is no safe place. Violence is everywhere. So if there are no police to rely on, who is going to protect our drivers?”

A recent survey of truck drivers showed that 79% of respondents were concerned about driving in and through cities with no legitimate police presence. 

1,283 people responded to the following questions from CDLLife.com:   LET Unity – It’s being called the “Netflix” of the Emergency Responder and Veteran CommunityPlay Video

Would you pick up and/or deliver in cities with disbanded police? 1,014 of them said no. 

Here are just a handful of the comments that drivers submitted with their survey responses: 

“…if something was to happen and you have to take matters into your own hands, and then you risk being prosecuted for protecting yourself.”

“This is not an area you need to act fearless and think you’d look like a fool for saying no…Imagine what kind of fool you look like for driving into a hot spot and putting your life in danger.”

“I will not deliver to an area with a disbanded police department. My life matters and I do this for my family. We are already at the mercy of these towns and cities with laws and hate against us for parking, getting a meal or even using a restroom.”

“Simple. We may not like it all the time, but law and order is necessary.”

“Most places we go already can be dicy [sic] and about only time you see a cop is when lights is on behind you.”

“For my own safety and security of my customers’ loads, I have already informed my dispatcher that I will refuse all loads to cities that have defunded their police departments.”

CDL Life reached out to Kucharski for a comment, and he supplied one, saying:

“Defunding the police is not the solution. We all have to work together with critical thinking and find a solution. The problem, during this time of crisis, is that the government has been behind the steering wheel. It’s time for small businesses to take over the steering wheel and make the right decisions, to sit down with the politicians. I welcome the politicians to sit down with us so we can educate them on what is best for the economy and small businesses. Last time I checked small businesses were the backbone of America.”

But, not everyone was applauding Kucharski’s decision. One Twitter user commented:

“Who gives 2 shits about JKC. More loads for the rest of us.”

That individual must have been part of the 21% of the survey that indicated they would continue driving in those cities.

But hey, the only cities that would really be affected would be New York City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Seattle and Portland, right? 

Fox pointed to an article in USA Today that itself highlights a report set to be released soon from the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). The non-partisan group said that of the 258 agencies they surveyed in July, nearly half of them reported that their budgets have either already been cut, or they expect them to be reduced soon. In some instances that decrease is substantial.  

We could argue that any decrease is substantial.

The study pointed to some of the cities mentioned above, but also included Baltimore, Tempe, and Eureka, California, to name just a few. 

And in the midst of the budget cuts, many of these cities are seeing a spike in violent crime. 

Chuck Wexler, the Executive Director of PERF, spoke with USA Today about the biggest budget cuts law enforcement agencies were dealing with since the 2008 recession.

Here is what he had to say about the situation:  

“Unfortunately, the situation this time is only certain to get worse because of the pandemic’s resurgence and the convergence of the defund police movement,” 

Wexler continued:

“It’s a combustible mixture for police departments, because reform is often achieved by hiring a next generation of officers and acquiring new technology that can assist their work. The unintended consequence of these times is that those reforms will now be held back.”

Here is a look at the spike in crime is taking place in NYC, all the while, politicians continue to scream for defunding.