page_title: Defund the police
section_title: Cities
hierarchical_section_title: Defund the police / Responses / Cities
caption_attribution_description: English: George Floyd protests on their ninth day in Miami
context_page_description: "Defund the police" is a slogan that supports divesting funds from police departments and reallocating them to non-policing forms of public safety and community support, such as social services, youth services, housing, education, healthcare and other community resources. Activists who use the phrase may do so with varying intentions; some seek modest reductions, while others argue for full defunding as a step toward the abolition of contemporary police services. Activists that support the defunding of police departments often argue that investing in community programs could provide a better crime deterrent for communities; funds would go toward addressing social issues, like poverty, homelessness, and mental disorders. Police abolitionists call for replacing existing police forces with other systems of public safety, like housing, employment, community health, education, and other programs.
  In June 2020, the "defund the police" slogan gained widespread popularity during the George Floyd protests.
context_section_description: In 2020, local policymakers in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and other US cities have supported some form of defunding or opposing budget increases. In New York City, a city council member called for a $1 billion divestment from the New York City Police Department. Activists and lawmakers asked Mayor Bill de Blasio in April 2020 to use cuts to the police budget to make up for shortfalls caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In June, during the Floyd protests, a group of 48 candidates for city office asked the city council to reduce the NYPD budget by $1 billion over four years. Brooklyn College's Policing and Social Justice Project called for the same reduction. City comptroller Scott Stringer said the city could save $1.1 billion over four years by cutting the numbers of police and reducing overtime and could divert the funds to "social workers, counselors, community-based violence interrupters, and other trained professionals." On June 15, 2020, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea announced that the NYPD would eliminate its plainclothes police units in the precinct-level and Housing Bureau anti-crime teams, and the officers would be reassigned to community policing and detective work.
  In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti has said he would cut as much as $150 million from the Los Angeles Police Department's (LAPD) budget, a reversal of his planned increase of $120 million. Garcetti announced the funds would be redirected to community initiatives. In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed announced a plan to redirect some police funds to the city's African-American community, and she announced that police will no longer respond to non-criminal calls. In Milwaukee, an activist group called African-American Roundtable, formed by 65 organizations, asked the city to divert $75 million from the police budget to public health and housing.
  In Minneapolis, activist groups Reclaim the Block and Black Visions Collective requested for the police budget to be cut by $45 million. Members of the Minneapolis City Council signed a pledge to dismantle the police and create new public safety systems. City council member Lisa Bender explained, "Our commitment is to end policing as we know it and to recreate systems of public safety that actually keep us safe." While Mayor Jacob Frey has not stated a commitment to defund the police, the city council has veto power over the mayor. No specific laws or plans have been offered by the city council yet, as of June 2020, but advocacy groups have presented recommendations.
  In Nashville on June 2, 2020, a city budget hearing lasted over ten hours to accommodate the large numbers of residents waiting to take their turn to ask the city to defund the police.
  In August 2020, the Austin City Council unanimously voted to cut $150 million, about one third, from the Austin Police Departments budget. About $80 million of the cuts consists of moving several civilian functions from the police department to other parts of city government, and $50 million is for "alternative forms of public safety". The other $20 million is to be reallocated to other city programs including violence prevention, abortion access, and food access.
caption: Miami protest on June 7, 2020
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