Despite the long-going “defund the police” movement, many cities have increased department funding.
Key Details
- Many people have fought to defund the police in the last few years including politicians and community leaders.
- Police argue that defunding has consequences, and cities will be in danger if the movement continues.
- The police budgets of more than 100 cities and counties found that 83% are spending at least 2% more on police in 2022 than in 2019, according to ABC News.
Why it’s news
Although many have been fighting to defund the police and move these funds elsewhere it hasn’t been happening—many cities have even increased funding.
An increase in budgets does not necessarily translate into more officers.
Despite funding not being cut in a majority of cities, crime has still risen considerably. Many think the reason for this is people do not respect police as much as they once did and the number of officers has gone down since the movement began.
“You typically see where these crimes are taking place, there has been a de-emphasis of the role that law enforcement plays. It could be defunding law enforcement. It could be a reduction in law enforcement,” says Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Officer morale was affected by the defunding movement causing a big decline in working officers. Many departments reported losing close to half of officers.
President Joe Biden is urging people to stop the movement and help boost confidence back into police departments.
“The answer is not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police. Fund them!” Biden said in his 2022 State of the Union address.
Backing up a bit
The defund the police movement began in 2020 after George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis.
The murder caused riots across the U.S. and people pleading to defund the police and move the funds elsewhere.
The hope is to reallocate the funds to programs to help with crime and public safety without having to use police such as: youth programs, housing, community support, education and other programs.