New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is vowing to cut funding for the New York City Police Department (NYPD) even as violent crime soars.
During a news conference on Sunday, de Blasio said his administration would “be moving funding from the NYPD to youth initiatives and social services” in its new budget request.
De Blasio’s announcement comes as rioters, looters, and arsonists have destroyed businesses and attacked NYPD officers over the last week. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is currently lobbying localities and cities to defund their police departments.
“The details will be worked out in the budget process in the weeks ahead,” de Blasio said. “But I want people to understand that we are committed to shifting resources to ensure that the focus is on our young people.”
De Blasio is also seeking to reduce the NYPD’s authority in New York City. One of those measures includes reforming existing law that protects officer disciplinary records from the public.
Another measure will strip NYPD of their jurisdiction over street vendor enforcement and certain code violations.
“The vendor and administrative enforcement will be moved out of the NYPD, so that code violations will not require an officer whose presence could escalate an encounter,” de Blasio’s wife Chirlane McCray said.
While De Blasio vows to cut NYPD funding, violent crime in New York City is continuing to rise even as the city remains partially locked down due to the Chinese coronavirus crisis