New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed a plan that would cut the city’s police budget by $1 billion.
Weeks after the mayor declared his intention to redistribute funding from the New York City Police Department to other initiatives, he announced on Monday a plan that would slash a sixth of the department’s $6 billion budget.
“I’m excited to say we have a plan that can achieve real reform, that can achieve real redistribution, while at the same time ensure that we keep our city safe, while we make sure that our officers are on patrol around where we need them around this city,” de Blasio said during his daily press briefing.
De Blasio would not guarantee that the police force would shrink from its current 36,000 officers.
“We can do this. We can strike the balance. We can keep this city safe,” he added.
The city’s budget is due by June 30, leaving just Monday and Tuesday for the mayor and City Council to hash out spending cuts for the coming fiscal year. De Blasio said the budget will be about $8 billion smaller than what he proposed earlier this year, according to the New York Post.
The move comes amid a nationwide push from activists to defund police departments following George Floyd’s death while he was in Minneapolis police custody last month and other similar deaths.
There has been a spike in shootings in New York City, as well as the destruction of property, assaults on police officers, and vandalism amid protests against police brutality and racial inequality. Eleven people were shot in less than 12 hours Saturday night into Sunday.
“A number of agencies have been cut quite a bit, but we’re dealing with a specific reality with the NYPD, unquestionably,” de Blasio said on Monday. “That is because it’s important to show that we’re going to make changes in this city.”
De Blasio announced a restructuring of the NYPD’s budget earlier in June, emphasizing that money would be redirected to youth initiatives.
“We will be moving funding from the NYPD to youth initiatives and social services,” he said at the time.
“The details will be worked out in the budget process in the weeks ahead. But I want people to understand that we are committed to shifting resources to ensure that the focus is on our young people,” he added. “I also will affirm we will only do it in a way that is certain to continue the city will be safe.”
