The New York City Council voted overnight to slash $1 billion from the NYPD’s spending budget. The council voted 32-17 to cut the police budget just after midnight Wednesday.
The council vote came in response to demonstrations in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minnesota in May.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said the money will be transferred from the NYPD budget to fund youth organizations in the city.
$350 million that would have been allocated for schools safety will be transferred to other city agencies.
De Blasio was reportedly angry that the NYPD leaked his daughter’s arrest information to a news media outlet last month. He said the leak was a violation of his daughter, Chiara’s privacy.
The budget cuts will trim the police force by 1,163 cops, which Mayor de Blasio insisted would not decrease public safety or increase the crime wave the city is currently under.
Violent crime waves in the city have spiked, as murders, car theft, burglaries, and rapes are all up double digits since February.
“Today is not a day of celebration, we are not in a time of celebration, it is the time of necessity and today’s budget agreement is one of necessity,” Council Speaker Corey Johnson said following the vote.
Occupy City Hall demonstrators and activists say the City Council’s vote don’t go far enough. They demand more police reforms.
“A $1 billion budget cut can’t address the racism that runs rampant in the NYPD,” said Councilman Donovan Richards (D-Queens).
“We must send a clear message that it’s not okay to kettle peaceful protesters, that it’s not okay to place black and brown New Yorkers in a chokehold as they gasp for air.”
