Morgan Freeman Says He Opposes Defunding Police: ‘Most of Them Are Guys That Are Doing Their Job’

Actor Morgan Freeman said he is “not in the least bit for defunding the police,” but that police violence against Black men needs to stop.

In an interview with Black Enterprise‘s Selena Hill, Freeman said,”Police work is, aside from all the negativity around it, it is very necessary for us to have them and most of them are guys that are doing their job.”

“They’re going about their day-to-day jobs,” he said. “There are some police the never pulled their guns except in rage, that sort of thing. I don’t know.”

The interview was centered on Freeman’s new film “The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain,” which is based on a real-life incident that occurred in 2011. Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., a former Marine with bipolar disorder, was killed by police after his medical alert necklace was accidentally triggered; a confrontation between him and responding police ensured. He was fatally shot and no officers were charged in his death.

According to Fox News, Freeman and a criminal justice professor donated $1 million to the University of Mississippi to establish a Center for Evidence-Based Policing and Reform earlier this year.

“Look at the past year in our country – that sums it up,” he said in June. “It’s time we are equipping police officers with training and ensuring ‘law enforcement’ is not defined only as a gun and a stick. Policing should be about that phrase ‘To Serve’ found on most law enforcement vehicles.”

Frankie Faison, who plays Chamberlain in the film, echoed Freeman’s thoughts.

“Well, I agree with Morgan,” he told Hill. “I’m certainly not in favor of defunding policemen.”

Faison went on to say, however, that unequal treatment of celebrities and everyday people by police should stop.

In an Instagram post sharing the interview, Hill — who noted that she supports defunding the police — wrote that “their response is a reflection of the movement’s struggle to educate certain parts of our community about what the phrase actually means.”