From The Guardian: These US cities defunded police: 'We're transferring money to the community'
Don't shoot me, that's The Guardian's headline but I would encourage everyone to read
the entire article.
"More than 20 major cities have reduced police budgets in some form, and activists are fighting to ensure that is only the start (.) by Sam Levin in Los Angeles
snip
After “defund the police” became the rallying cry of protests last summer, Democratic leaders spent months criticizing the slogan and worrying about its impact on elections. While party infighting was dominating headlines, local activists were campaigning to make the catchphrase a reality in cities across the US.
Since the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor prompted unprecedented uprisings, some racial justice groups have successfully pressured municipal lawmakers to cut police funds and reinvest the money in services. And with reformed 2021 budgets coming into effect, cities are slowly beginning to redistribute law enforcement money to housing, mental health programs, food access and other programs.
“We are showing the country how reinvestments from the police budget can actually make many people’s lives so much better and safer,” said Gregorio Casar, a councilmember in Austin, Texas, who helped pass a major cut to the city’s law enforcement budget and is now reallocating those dollars to housing programs. “This will build momentum for changes to police budgets across the country.”
much more text and photos at link:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/07/us-cities-defund-police-transferring-money-community
= new reply since forum marked as read
What a novel idea...
