Radical leftists want to defund the police in the name of social justice, and Joe Biden supports them. In Congress, two members of the “squad” Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Ayanna Pressley co-authored the “Breathe Act,” which not only abolishes federal prisons, all mandatory minimums, the Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) and the Drug Enforcement Administration, but also defunds the police, with specialists responding to 9-11 calls instead of law-enforcement.
These radical ideas are now permeating in cities across the nation, where localities have moved to either redirect or defund the police that keep their neighborhoods safe. Below are just a few of the cities which have bowed to the radical leftist mobs, instead of standing up for law and order and safety.
- Minneapolis, MN: In June, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a proposal to eliminate the city’s police department, marking the first step toward establishing a new ‘holistic’ approach to public safety.
- Los Angeles, CA: In June, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced he would redirect as much as $150 million from the police department to programs for health care, jobs, and “peace centers.” The same month, the Los Angeles City Council voted to cut the police agency’s budget by up to $150 million. Members of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles called for deeper cuts and “transformative change” adding they could not be “bought off with just this minimal amount of money.”
- New York, NY: In June, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio said he planned to shift some New York Police Department funding to youth initiatives and social services. Later the same month the city council shifted $1 billion from the police budget and disbanded its anticrime unit of plainclothes officers. Also in June, New York City logged its highest number of shootings in the month since 1996.
- Portland, OR: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler removed police officers from Portland City Schools and moved $1 million budgeted for school resource officers to community programs. That same month, the Portland City Council cut $15 million from the police budget and added $4.8 million for a policing alternative dubbed, “Portland Street Response.” The city has undergone rioting for the last 59 nights.
- Berkeley, CA: In July, the city’s mayor and City Council ended the use of police to make traffic stops and cut more than $9 million from the police budget. They created an unarmed community safety coalition paid for by having the police budget. The police were also directed to stop responding to homeless and mental health crisis management calls.
- Philadelphia, PA: In June, the city cancelled a planned $19 million increase for the police department and shifted $14 million of the police budget elsewhere, including affordable housing.
- Seattle, WA: In June the city reduced its police budget by 10 percent, and in July seven of its nine Seattle City Council members aid they supported a proposal to cut police spending by half and redirect the money to alternative 9-11 responders, community services and affordable housing. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said: “We have to reallocate parts of the [police] budget to take things out of the police department that shouldn’t be there..we have to think about what remains in the police department.”
- Baltimore, MD: In June, the Baltimore City Council voted by a 13-2 margin to cut $22.4 million from the police budget.
- Hartford, CT: In June, The Hartford City Council voted for a $2 million reduction and reallocation of police funds.
- San Francisco, CA: The city’s mayor announced an effort to funnel funding away from the city’s police department and toward the black community. A spokesperson for the mayor said specific dollar amounts and resources would be included in the mayors proposed two-year budget, which will be submitted by August 1.
- Salt Lake City, UT: In June, the Salt Lake City Council reduced its police budget by $5.3 million, and acknowledged calls for greater cuts, but said more information was needed as the city continued to work toward change.
- Norman, OK: The city’s council voted to cut Norman’s police budget by $865,000 after a heated battle. According to Fox News: “Amid mounting calls to ‘defund the police,’ Norman City Council’s budget meeting on Tuesday was swarmed with citizens urging them to slash police funding and other speaking out against it…After hours of heated debate, the council ultimately passed the budget, which included an $865,000 budget cut, in an 8-1 vote.”
- Oakland, CA: In July, Oakland City Council slashed its police budget by $20 million and pledged further cuts were coming. In June, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf agreed many law enforcement duties could be accomplished by unarmed civilian professionals.
- Austin, TX: In June, the city council directed the city manager to propose reductions in the police department for the following year.