Governor Andrew Cuomo is begging rich people, who’ve fled the violence and COVID fallout, to come back to New York.

The Governor sounds sort of desperate:

‘You got to come back! We’ll go to dinner! I’ll buy you a drink! Come over, I’ll cook!’” the Democratic governor said Monday.

I’ve got a better pitch for the Governor to make (and it won’t just court the rich): a safe city. Instead of dinner with Cuomo, how about a safe city with a functioning, appropriately funded police department?

But it is not just the rich who are shunning cities that are defunding or dismantling their police departments. Remember how intrepid America’s truckers were during the lockdown?

Well, those brave truckers, who already practice one of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S., say that in the future they won’t set foot—or wheel—inside cities that have seriously diminished their police departments.

Such lawless cities are dangerous both for drivers and their cargoes. A trucking executive recently explained:

‘Our first priority is to support our drivers and their safety when they are on the road,” co-owner of JKC Trucking Mike Kucharski told “Fox & Friends First.”

Kucharski said that defunding the police is a bad idea because drivers carry valuable cargo on the road for weeks.

‘Everybody wants to steal this,” Kucharski said.

According to a survey on CDLLIFE, a national website for truckers, about 76 percent of truckers say they would refuse to pick up or deliver cargoes in cities that are disbanding or defunding their police departments. The survey included responses from 1, 283 truckers.

The reasons cited by respondents make perfect sense:

“…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 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 matter 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 laws and order is necessary.”

“Most places we go already can be dicy an 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.”

Needless to say, any city boycotted by the trucking industry will face serious economic consequences. And truckers aren’t the only citizens who recognize that a well-trained police department is key to civic order and personal safety.

A new Gallup poll shows that a majority of black Americans want police to retain local presence. Eighty-one percent of black Americans, according to Gallup, want the police to spend about the same or more time in their communities. Gallup reports:

When asked whether they want the police to spend more time, the same amount of time or less time than they currently do in their area, most Black Americans — 61% — want the police presence to remain the same. This is similar to the 67% of all U.S. adults preferring the status quo, including 71% of White Americans.

Meanwhile, nearly equal proportions of Black Americans say they would like the police to spend more time in their area (20%) as say they’d like them to spend less time there (19%).

It should be noted that black respondents showed more concern than white respondents over courteous treatment. Here is the breakdown:

Fewer than one in five Black Americans feel very confident that the police in their area would treat them with courtesy and respect. While similar to the 24% of Asian Americans saying the same, it is markedly lower than the 40% of Hispanic Americans and the 56% of White Americans who feel this way. This could either stem from Black Americans’ own negative experiences with the police or from their familiarity with people who have had negative encounters with law enforcement.

When factoring in those who are at least somewhat confident that the police would treat them well, a majority of Black Americans (61%) are generally confident, but this is still below the 85% seen nationally, including 91% of White Americans.

Clearly, while there are issues that need work, the black community doesn’t overall share the destructive defunding mania that has swept American cities.

Are you beginning to think that giddy city councils that have caught the defund-the-police-fever haven’t really thought things through?

Will businesses vie to do business in these cities and towns? Will people who have a choice even live in such places?