Despite calls for 'defunding'' the police — in many communities, the opposite has happened. ABC Owned Television Stations examined the budgets of more than 100 cities and counties and found that 83% are spending more on police in 2022 than in 2019.
MORE: Republicans hammer crime in key Wisconsin races; Democrats say they want to distract from abortionABC Owned Television Stations examined the budgets of more than 100 cities and counties and found that 83% are spending at least 2% more on police in 2022 than in 2019.
Dr. Rashawn Ray, a sociologist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told KABC in Los Angeles that this false narrative has persisted due to repetition by public officials. In Houston, where the homicide rate nearly doubled in both 2020 and 2021 before starting to subside this year, local government officials have increased police spending by nearly 9% -- almost $80 million -- from 2019 to 2022.in his 2022 State of the Union address, saying, "The answer is not to defund the police. It's to fund the police. Fund them!" -- a line that drew bipartisan applause.
Yet records show his agency's budget is up about 8% percent -- more than $259 million -- from 2019 to 2022. The result was a massive NYPD exodus. Retirements in 2020 skyrocketed 72% from the previous year, and this year the NYPD lost more employees through the month of August than it had during that same time period in any previous year.
Kimberly Dodson, a retired law enforcement officer who is now a criminologist at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, said that's because police largely respond to crime instead of deter it.
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Despite 'defunding' claims, police funding has increased in many U.S. citiesPoliticians, pundits and police leaders across the country have blamed the rise in crime on the 'defund the police' movement. But in most places, it never happened.
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Despite 'defunding' claims, police funding has increased in many U.S. citiesPoliticians, pundits and police leaders across the country have blamed the rise in crime on the 'defund the police' movement. But in most places, it never happened.
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Despite 'defunding' claims, police funding has increased in many U.S. citiesPoliticians, pundits and police leaders across the country have blamed the rise in crime on the 'defund the police' movement. But in most places, it never happened.
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Despite 'defunding' claims, police funding has increased in many U.S. citiesPoliticians, pundits and police leaders across the country have blamed the rise in crime on the 'defund the police' movement. But in most places, it never happened.
Read more »
Despite 'defunding' claims, police funding has increased in many U.S. citiesPoliticians, pundits and police leaders across the country have blamed the rise in crime on the 'defund the police' movement. But in most places, it never happened.
Read more »
Despite 'defunding' claims, police funding has increased in many U.S. citiesPoliticians, pundits and police leaders across the country have blamed the rise in crime on the 'defund the police' movement. But in most places, it never happened.
Read more »