Nine members of the Minneapolis City Council have announced plans to defund and dismantle the city’s police department in favor of pouring more money into community-based programs.
While some cities are considering various changes, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city will move some of its funding from the New York Police Department to youth and social services.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti agreed last week to slash between $100 million to $150 million from the Los Angeles Police Department’s proposed $1.86 billion budget.
Meanwhile, two top Trump administration officials said Sunday they do not believe there is “systemic racism” in the country’s police forces.
Attorney General William Barr suggested he is reluctant to investigate potential deeper policing problems in Minneapolis, where the national protests over George Floyd’s death began.
Floyd, a Black man, died during a May 25 altercation with Minneapolis police officers after one of the officers pinned Floyd to the pavement with a knee in his neck for nearly nine minutes. His death has sparked outrage and demonstrations against police brutality nationwide.
