Bill De Blasio Vows To Cut Funding for the NYPD To Invest Back Into Community Programs

After 10 days of protests against police brutality and racism, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio announced that budget cuts would be coming to the New York Police Department, with the goal of reinvesting the revenue back into the community.

In his announcement, De Blasio did not immediately give a figure for how much the cut will be, but the funding will shift from the NYPD budget into youth and social services for communities of color. De Blasio is also committed to finding “significant savings” in the budget, which would have to be negotiated with the City Council and relies on multiple variables.

In addition, the city’s mayor committed to moving vendor enforcement out of the NYPD. Shifting enforcement of street vending out of the NYPD’s responsibility will allow officers to focus on more serious crime and will cut down on the interactions of uniformed officers and New Yorkers for administrative infractions and particularly interactions with immigrants and communities of color.

De Blasio will also initiate community ambassador programs within the NYPD. The ambassadors will represent the diversity of New Yorkers and work with the NYPD to act as liaisons between officers and the community they represent. The presence of the community ambassadors will hopefully build trust between the police department and the community they serve.

“While we have taken many steps to reform policing in the city, there is clearly more work to do to strengthen the trust between officers and the New Yorkers they serve. These will be the first of many steps my Administration will take over the next 18 months to rebuild a fairer City that profoundly addresses injustice and disparity.” Bill De Blasio said in a statement.

He also pledged support for the 50-A reform bill that was introduced in Albany and is looking to take away provisions included by legislators that prevent transparency and create more accountability within the department’s disciplinary system. 50-A, in its current form, is what keeps officer misconduct records private.

Last week, De Blasio announced that Corporation Counsel Jim Johnson and DOI Commissioner Margaret Garnett will be reviewing the protests, as well as the NYPD’s response to the protests, to ensure there is accountability for both officers and protesters who may have acted inappropriately.