NYC Announces $1bn Cuts to NYPD as 4 people Shot in 90 Minutes, Inc 11-Year-Old Child
Police budget slashed as violent crime in the city explodes
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As an $88.1 billion budget was passed the New York City Council following $1 billion in cuts to the NYPD, a series of shootings in Brooklyn left four people injured, including an 11-year-old child.
The deal became official after the Councilwoman Deborah Rose (D-Staten Island) became the 26th council member to vote in favor of the budget.
“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.
“Heart-wrenching, impossible choices had to be made. It was not easy,” Johnson added.
The NYPD cuts came in response to demonstrations and calls from Democrats seeking to defund the police following the death of George Floyd.
Last month, Mayor Bill de Blasio had announced the cuts from the $6 billion budget and, instead, diverting the money to social services.
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The effects of the cuts include:
- Reducing overtime by $352 million
- Cutting the size of the police force by 1,163 cops
But De Blasio insists this would not decrease public safety despite a recent surge in shootings.
The majority of cuts to the NYPD was realized by transferring the department’s school safety and crossing guard functions to other city agencies.
The budget passed by a final vote of 32-17, with one member absent and another seat empty.
But Councilman Donovan Richards (D-Queens) voted against the budget deal.
“My concern with this budget is not just about the $1 billion cuts, but more about the NYPD’s culture,” said Richards.
“A $1 billion budget cut can’t address the racism that runs rampant in the NYPD,” he said.
“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.”
“We must send a clear message that it’s not okay to shoot unarmed black men like Sean Bell and Ramarley Graham.”
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Councilman I. Daneek Miller (D-Brooklyn) voted in favor of the budget but pushed back against the NYPD's downsizing.
“Black folks want to be safe like everyone else, we just want to be respected,” Miller said.
“We can’t allow folks from outside our community to lecture us about black lives and what we need in our communities.”
Meanwhile, police in Brooklyn are investigating four shootings spanning just over 90 minutes in the city, ABC New York reported.
“The victims include an 11-year-old boy who was shot while playing outside of his home in Flatbush.”
The child was wounded in a drive-by shooting that happened just before 10 p.m. on East 29th Street, as he stood on a porch with others when witnesses heard three gunshots.
