From what I can make of the deeply ideologically biased arguments for the de-funding or abolition of the police, advocates (I won’t come right out and call them propagandists) call for the establishment of greater social work-type programs, outreach, counselling, and so on; ostensibly, to prevent crimes from happening. The idea, of course, is that most crime stems from the underlying emotional and psychological problems of offenders — which is a theory.
This is really a kind of red herring. Social programs exist, and can be extended. No problem. There is no reason why broadening the work of these programs must come at the expense of practical policing. If you want to have counselling sessions with disturbed individuals — which those individuals, presumably, will attend voluntarily — no one is stopping you. But, when those individuals are actively menacing a community, most of us would prefer, and deserve, to have armed officers arrive on the scene to protect victims and potential victims.