Democratic leadership is bent on showing the criminally violent protesters that their tantrums will get them exactly what they want by actually considering the “Defund Police” campaign, even in some of the most densely populated cities in the country. On Sunday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged to cut funding to police following days of violent riots and demonstrations, purportedly in the name of justice for George Floyd, the Minneapolis black man who was killed while in police custody.
According to the New York Times, de Blasio, a Democrat, said he would redirect a percentage of the New York Police Department’s $6 billion budget towards social programs, but did not provide the exact percentage or give details as to which programs he was referring.
“We’re committed to seeing a shift of funding to youth services, to social services, that will happen literally in the course of the next three weeks, but I’m not going to go into detail because it is subject to negotiation and we want to figure out what makes sense,” the mayor said on Sunday.
De Blasio said the details would be discussed with the City Council before the July 1 budget deadline.
Ed Mullins, head of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, expressed doubt that the mayor would actually follow through on his statement. Mullins told the New York Times, “I know he just recently said that he wasn’t going to do that. I guess let’s see what … what his next decision is going to be.”
Mullins is referring to comments made as recently as Friday in which de Blasio defended the police against calls to cut its budget. “I do not believe it’s a good idea to reduce the budget of the agency that’s here to keep us safe,” the mayor said on Friday during a City Hall press briefing.
But it seems the mayor has succumb to intense pressure from his colleagues. On Saturday, dozens of employees at the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice demanded in a signed statement that de Blasio support policing reforms, including criminalizing the use of chokeholds by law enforcement — a measure de Blasio has resisted unless it includes an exemption for when an officer’s life is in danger.
That statement came just days after a letter to de Blasio, signed by hundreds of former and current staffers, demanded the mayor cut Police Department funding by $1 billion, the New York Times reports.
De Blasio reportedly tried to address the apparent unrest in his administration through an internal e-mail to staff with assurances that he and his wife, Chirlane McCray — who is black — understand “how deeply this moment hurts.”
“We are here for you,” reads the letter, which was acquired by the Times. “We will never stop fighting for you. Black Lives Matter in New York City.”
De Blasio and his wife attended a Sunday remote meeting with mayoral staff, after which he made his announcement.
As noted by the Daily Wire, de Blasio’s announcement comes at a time when the New York City police department is already feeling shafted by the city’s leadership.
Captains’ Endowment Association President Chris Monahan harshly criticized “elected officials” in a letter to union members on Saturday, according to the New York Post.
“They do not have your back and will use you as a political pawn!” Monahan wrote. “My assessment is ‘Hands off the protester/looter you will be assaulted by them. Hands on the protester/looter you will be assaulted by our elected officials.’ BE CAREFUL!”
The New York Times says the mayor’s relationship with the NYPD has been contentious virtually since his first year in office. Following the police chokehold death of Eric Garner in 2014, two police officers were fatally shot in Brooklyn, prompting police leaders to blame de Blasio for failing to publicly support the NYPD in spite of what happened to Garner. When de Blasio attended the funerals of the two slain officers, police officers turned their backs to the mayor in a show of opposition.
Meanwhile, New York City is not in any position to cut funding to the NYPD’s budget. Just one day after de Blasio announced his intention to cut the NYPD’s budget, seven people were wounded in three shootings just 10 minutes apart in different Brooklyn neighborhoods, Fox News reports.
In 2019, murder rates in New York City were up by 55 percent compared to the same time frame in 2018, according to NYPD statistics. Rape reports were also up in New York City in 2019 compared to the previous year.
Likewise, New York’s failed bail “reform” has created mounting public-safety concerns.
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