One year ago, the streets of American cities were filled with protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd. As public opinion shifted briefly in the direction of the Black Lives Matter movement, progressive activists embraced the slogan “defund the police,” and in some cities, such as Minneapolis, elected officials moved toward doing just that. More recently, some far-left leaders, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib, have taken their rhetoric a step further, calling for “no more policing.”

But it turns out even people who say they want to “defund the police” don’t actually want less police — and this is creating a political problem for Democrats in cities across the country.