“Defund the police” has become a topic of extreme debate and misinformation in recent years. The slogan gained mainstream popularity during the George Floyd protests that started in May of 2020. Intense campaigns from bad-faith actors and well-intentioned reformers on all sides of the political spectrum have added their voices to the debate regarding the defunding of police and their role in society. In the wake of such debate, many cities have begun to make changes in the way their police maintain and support peace and safety in our communities. Several even announced that they would be “defunding” their police forces.

Representative Jim Jordan released a list in 2023 of 20 cities that had defunded their police departments, relying on fear mongering to push his “back the blue” agenda. But his list did not account for reversals and other impacts on city budgets. But how accurate was his list? Here we will analyze many of the cities on his list, including some he did not include, along with a breakdown of their police budgets for 2021 and their impact on crime.

So, what does “defund the police” mean, and what happened to the cities that actually followed through with their commitments?

The Background of “Defund the Police”

The slogan “defund the police” while catchy, is actually misleading. Aside from the most extreme figures, most people admit there is a role for police to play in our society. Today, the slogan has become a loaded word with different definitions depending on who you ask. It is important to remember that you perceive the goals of city governments vastly differently based on what meaning you assign to the slogan and the movement behind it. In a country divided by strong political opinions, well-funded interest groups, and misinformation, it is important to come to a common understanding of the movement before moving to analyze its results, intentional or otherwise.

Even supporters of the “defund the police” movement have criticized the slogan for being too catchy yet not very descriptive of their goals and the issues they want to resolve. Expert researchers, including active and retired police officers, have suggested that a better name would be “reallocation of police budgets” since that better describes what social activists actually want.

Social scientists agree that police are often asked to respond to situations of fill roles that they are ill-equipped, poorly trained, and unprepared to resolve effectively. This includes mental health emergencies, welfare checks, tense situations that require delicate de-escalation, social and humanitarian work, and non-violent conflicts. Police are trained to resolve violent conflicts as quickly and as efficiently as possible. They are trained to investigate crime and treat any situation as a life-or-death conflict. The skills police need to succeed in these situations do not transfer well to other situations to which we often ask them to respond. Therefore, “defund the police” aims to reallocate some of the budget police organizations use to respond to these events to professionals and organizations that are better equipped and trained to resolve them. This includes mental health professionals, EMTs, psychologists, and education programs, among others.

Police are effective at reducing crime, but they are not the only way to do so, and they also do not address the fundamental drivers of crime: poverty. In our current system, as human populations increase, income inequality and broken social systems will create ever more rampant poverty, which drives up crime, motivating cities to increase their police budgets. This is not a system that can continue indefinitely. The best way to actually reduce crime is to invest in education equity and establish a solid work foundation for people of all economic levels.

With these goals in mind, cities have begun to implement their own versions of police budget reallocations. Which cities are they, and what have been the results so far?

For this list, we are using budgets announced by cities for 2021. It is too early to reliably analyze the effects of any 2022 or 2023 budgets. It bears noting, however, that almost every city in the United States experienced a spike in violent crime in 2020, even as overall crime rates continued to drop. Researchers point to the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the illness itself, as a primary factor in this rise in violence. Any crime statistics during this time period should be viewed through this lens. Additionally, political sites and organizations reported on political pledges and promises, profiting from fear-mongering and panic. Many of these promised cuts did not actually take place.

#22 Detroit

Detroit’s violent crime rate and police budget have actually been falling gradually for a number of years. On average, Detroit’s spending on police has been on par with other cities of its size, about 30% of their general budget for the year. Police spending reached its lowest point in 2020 following a small increase in 2021 before another decrease in 2022. Homicide rates increased sharply in 2021 and 2022, but Detroit is now on track to have its least violent year ever.

In addition to cutting their police budget, the Detroit Board of Police announced that officers would no longer be allowed to use chokeholds or to fire at or from a moving vehicle, and additional requirements for officers to report when they use excessive force.

At the state level, Michigan passed a law that would require additional screening of implicit bias and mental health for officers and training on de-escalation techniques.

#21 Louisville

For their 2021–2022 budget, Louisville reallocated $2.9 million from the city’s “deflection” program, which sends alternative professionals to mental health emergencies other than police, and gave it to Emergency Services, the agency that actually handles the dispatch calls. The actual police budget remained unchanged and will actually have additional funding due to increased government revenue from the previous year.

 Additional changes include the passing of Breonna’s Law which bans no-knock warrants and requires officers to turn on their body cameras before executing any search warrant.

Louisville experienced a crime wave that started in 2020 and continued into 2021. It was the highest rate of homicides the city had experienced in decades. So far in 2022, however, Louisville has had a lower rate of gun violence than in 2021 and 2020, while the state overall has seen a significant drop in homicide rates overall.

#20 Milwaukee

Milwaukee’s police budget was largely unchanged in the 2021–2022 budget. The only change was reducing the planned increase of the police force. According to Mayor Tom Barrett, they planned to increase the police force by 160 fewer than usual.

Additional changes made include a ban on chokeholds and neck restraints, pepper spray at peaceful protests, and requiring officers to adjust a person onto their side once they are handcuffed.

In 2020, Milwaukee broke its own record of homicides per year with 189 killed. That record was again broken in 2022 with 214 homicides. Milwaukee has long been one of the ten most dangerous cities in America due to rampant poverty, unemployment, and income inequality. It is the second-poorest city in the United States.

#19 Dallas

Dallas has continued to increase its budget year over year. In 2021, that trend remained relatively uniform. Dallas only cut $7 million from the unplanned overtime budget for police. Additional funding was then allocated to the police budget to allow for EMS and mental health professionals to accompany police officers on calls to relevant emergencies.

Other changes include a 2020 law that requires Dallas police officers to intervene if they witness a fellow officer using excessive force.

After a crime spike in 2020 and 2021, Dallas has seen a noticeable drop in crime for 2022.

#18 Los Angeles

 The Los Angeles police force has undergone significant reform and changes from its corrupt and violent version just a couple of decades ago. The city council voted to reallocate $150 million from the police budget, which totaled $1.86 billion before the cuts.

This $150 million will instead be allocated toward summer youth programs, workforce development, avoiding further city furloughs, the city’s human and civil rights department, and investment into communities of color.

The city voted to increase the police budget in 2022 and 2023.

So far, violent crimes like aggravated assault, rape, and homicides have dropped significantly in 2023, while non-violent crimes like theft and burglary have seen double-digit increases.

#17 Oklahoma City

In its 2021–2022 budget, Oklahoma City actually increased its police operations budget from $204.4 million to $211.2 million. Part of this increase is being allocated to two new initiatives. The first is the hiring of civilians for safe tasks like data analysis instead of using officers, and the second is the development of an alternative force to respond to mental health crises which would be staffed by mental health professionals, this would take $300,000 of the budget increase.

Other recent changes in 2022 include a series of reforms in how police respond to and resolve conflict. They implemented new de-escalation policies and created a response team to respond to mental health crises.

Violent crime has decreased steadily in the last couple of years in Oklahoma City. There was a 20% drop in homicides from 2020 to 2021 and another 6.1% decrease from 2021 to 2022. Violent crime overall has decreased since the 2020 spike. Property crime dropped by 11% from 2021.

#16 Long Beach

For fiscal year 2021, Long Beach was facing a projected $20 million deficit. It was expected that almost every department would face budget and personnel cuts in order to make ends meet. This included the police budget.

In the end, Long Beach had to cut $10.3 million from its police budget, they eliminated 20 positions and transitioned another 34 into civilian roles. The city also voted to move funds and officers from other departments and budgets to make up for the cuts.

Through the year 2021, overall crime in Long Beach increased by 7.7%, while murder and property crime decreased. This trend seems to be continuing through 2022.

#15 Philadelphia

Going into 2021, Philadelphia also faced a significant budget deficit of $749 million caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The city cut $33 million in police funding from its final budget.

Additional policing changes included banning chokeholds and kneeling on a person’s neck. For their 2021 budget, they reallocated $45 million for affordable housing and social services that address poverty.

Philadelphia saw a significant jump in violent crime, especially homicides, in 2020 and 2021, but that rate fell sharply in 2022. In 2023, there has been a 23% decrease in homicides.

#14 Boston

Boston cut about $12 million dollars from their 2021 police budget, approximately 3% of the total allocation. They also voted to ban police from using facial recognition technology. The budget passed by a narrow vote after some councilors complained that the cuts should have been larger and more money reallocated toward health and social services, especially for those that serve minority populations.

Overall crime in Boston fell sharply after the COVID-19 surge, with rapes dropping by 25.8% and residential burglary dropping 15.8%. There were 41 homicides in 2022 compared to 40 in 2021. Total crime dropped by 1.5% and shooting incidents dropped by 12.6% from 2021.  

#13 Baltimore

After a series of large protests and demonstrations, Baltimore voted to reallocate approximately $22 million in police spending. The change was largely symbolic as Baltimore spends over $500 million each year on its police force, but community leaders are hopeful it is a sign of change to come. The cuts include unplanned overtime, the city’s mounted unit, the marine unit, and delaying the opening of new community intelligence centers.

Additional measures passed include bans on chokeholds, encouraging officers to intervene when their coworkers use excessive force and whistleblower protections for officers who see and report on uses of excessive force.

Homicide rates in Baltimore are at their lowest rate since 2018, and rates of shootings, and property crime are all also at four-year lows. The rates of larceny and carjacking increased from 2021 to 2022, however.

#12 Portland

In 2020, Portland cut almost $16 million from its police budget. The police bureau had received a total of $244 million the year before. Most of the cuts were due to budget shortfall, like most other cities, but community activists were hoping for more intentional cuts of up to $50 million.

A year after the cuts, Portland made plans to increase the police budget by $7 million for 2022, including funds for body cameras, and 100 unarmed community specialists who would respond to low-level calls.  

Portland saw a record-breaking increase in crime starting in 2019 that continues today. In fact, homicide rates rose 207% from 2019. Low-level crime also increased year over year.

#11 San Francisco

In 2020, San Francisco Mayor Breed pledged to cut $120 million from the police budget and reinvest that money into the community including low-income housing. Those cuts never happened. The city approved a reallocation of $60 million which would be sent to the Department of Public Health to help deal with COVID-19, women of color who were struggling through pregnancy, and public housing. However, those cuts happened after an increase of approximately $62 million to the police budget. In the end, the police budget increased each year since the initial announcement, growing by about 4.4% from 2019 to 2022.

#10 Chicago

Chicago has increased its police budget every year except for 2021. That year, in response to community outrage, the city decreased its budget from $1.76 billion to $1.71 billion. Today, the budget is set to increase to $1.99 billion for 2024. This doesn’t account for the increase of police-related settlements to victims of police violence or constitutional violations. The city budgeted $329 million for the period of 2012–2021 but ended up paying $639 million.

The year 2021 was the city’s deadliest year in 25 years, and so far in 2023, almost all crime has seen an increase except homicides. While homicide dropped from 2021 to 2022, it remains at a high point for the decade. Overall, crime has increased by 13% in 2023 of 2022.

#9 Washington, D.C.

The nation’s capital passed a budget that included a $15 million reallocation of the 2021 police funds. Most of the money was redistributed to other public safety efforts not associated with law enforcement. The city’s police department exceeded its 2020 budget by $41.4 million, which was a factor in determining the cuts for 2021. The $15 million cut is a small fraction of the $569 million budget for the year, which was still bigger than their 2020 budget of $559 million. Even with the cuts, the police budget ended up staying about the same.

All crime in Washington D.C. has been increasing for several years, even before the 2019 pandemic. Homicide rates reached a 20-year high in 2023 so far. The rise in crime and gun crime increased the most in poor neighborhoods.

#8 New Orleans

New Orleans approved an 8% reduction in police funding for 2021, about $16 million less than the year before. City officials say the reason for the cut was due to the impact of the pandemic, not a response to calls for defunding. In fact, the Police Superintendent told the city council that his department was prepared to face their share of the budget cuts. Other government departments face much larger cuts of up to 20% of their usual budget.

Crime in New Orleans remains incredibly high. Homicide rates skyrocketed in 2022 before falling again in 2023. The drop in homicides beats the national trend downward, but experts are not sure why, yet it still remains much higher than pre-pandemic levels.

#7 Salt Lake City

In 2020, the Salt Lake City Council voted unanimously to reallocate $2.5 million from the police budget to social workers and put an additional $2.8 million into a holding account while a new Commission on Racial Equity and Policing provides input on how best to use the funds. The city did increase funding in some public safety budgets not directly related to the police budget, such as $1.3 million for body cameras.

In 2023, Salt Lake City reached its lowest crime rate in seven years. Violent crime has fallen by 16.4% and property crimes have fallen by 15 percent between 2021 and 2022. Compared to their 9-year average, overall crime has dropped by 23%.

#6 Hartford

Hartford cut $1 million from its 2021 fiscal budget, about a 3.5% reduction from the previous year. The funds would instead be reallocated to the Public Works Department, the Department of Children, Families, Youth and Recreation, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

In 2022, Hartford reached its highest rate of homicides in over 20 years. The city remains much more dangerous than comparable cities, and crime exceeds the national average. According to the police, the actual number of shootings has fallen since previous years, but the number of homicides has increased dramatically. Police and city officials lay the blame on an increase of illegal guns in the hands of people who should have them.

#5 Norman

 The Norman City Council reallocated $865,000 from the 2021 police budget, about 3.6% of the $23 million previously budgeted. According to the city, $630,000 will be sent to various community development programs, and the remaining $235,000 will be assigned to a new internal auditor who will track police overtime and outlays. The cut is a far cry from the initial proposal of $4.5 million.

Overall crime in Norman has been on a downward trajectory ever since 2012, reaching its lowest point in 2021. Property crime, larceny, and burglary have all continued downward. Violent crime, on the other hand, has been steadily climbing in that same time period but has remained stable since 2020. There have been no other significant changes in the crime rate in Norman.

#4 Seattle

Seattle voted to cut $2.5 million from its police budget. The total cuts add up to just under 1% of the total police department’s budget. The cut primarily reduces the executive pay of the department, including the police chief, and the budget for SWAT teams, police in schools, and recruitment.

Seattle has its highest violent crime rate in 15 years in 2022, homicides also reached a peak in 2023 with 56 murders. However, overall crime in 2023 reached its lowest rate in over ten years. Everything from rapes, assaults, burglary to thefts have all fallen from rates in 2022 through 2019.

#3 Minneapolis

Like politicians tend to do, city leaders in Minneapolis pledged to do one thing while doing another. Most famously, Minneapolis pledged to completely disband and defund their police force. They quickly walked that promise back, instead opting for modest budget reallocations. They voted instead to cut $28 million from their police budget. Around $8 million of those cuts would be reassigned to alternative policing options and mental health intervention. However, almost every department had to face budget cuts of some kind due to budget shortfalls, with most other budgets suffering cuts of similar sizes. Additionally, $11.4 million which is not included in the police budget was made available for the police chief to use for unplanned overtime and new recruits. At the same time, they adopted plans to increase police recruitment in 2022.

Violent crime has increased steadily over the last five years in Minneapolis, with downtown rates increasing slower than the rest of the city as a whole. Homicides and assaults have both skyrocketed. Property crimes, on the other hand, have dropped to levels below pre-pandemic years.

#2 New York

Buildings in Manhattan, New York

New York made headlines when Mayor de Blasio announced he would cut $1 billion from the police budget. Conservative and right-wing publications were foaming at the mouth in a political frenzy and a cascade of articles critiquing the decision flooded in from all sides. Those cuts never happened, however. Only $474 million was either cut, delayed, or reallocated as part of a larger initiative to trim the budget due to the recent pandemic. After the initial cuts, police spending increased again in the years after, resuming its upward trend and reinstating previously paused police classes.

New York reached a historically low crime rate just before the pandemic, now after the lockdowns have ended, crime rates have remained relatively the same. Shootings and homicides have both decreased since the close of the pandemic. Homicides reached their lowest level since 2019. Robbery and burglary, however, have driven the overall crime rate up since 2021.

#1 Austin

Austin voted unanimously to cut or reallocate $150 million from their 2021 police budget. The largest changes include a straight $20 million cut to the department, reallocating $45 million for the Reimagine Safety Fund, and moving $80 million to civilian agents who would replace some police functions. They also started redirecting some 911 calls to mental health professionals who could help people instead of responding with force.

However, even after these drastic cuts, Austin’s 2022 police budget set a new record at $442 million, with even more increases planned for the future.

Overall crime has been falling in Austin ever since a peak in 2008. That trend has continued through to 2023. Austin remains one of the safest of the 30 largest cities in America.

The fact is, police spending in the United States has tripled in the last 40 years, making us the world leader in incarcerations and police killings. Even after several cities have defunded their police forces to some degree, police budgets increased overall.

It is clear that increased police budgets are only good at mitigating the effects of rampant poverty, low education, generations of prejudice and discrimination, and income inequality, not eliminating crime. If we always do what we’ve always done, then we’ll always get what we’ve always got.  

 

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.