Cops Unable To Tell Difference Between 'Getting More Money' And Being 'Defunded'

Perhaps this is part of the problem?

Across the nation, cops are talking about how crime is increasing as a result of their departments being defunded en masse . Sheriff Alex Villanueva of Los Angeles, who is currently running for re-election, has held multiple press conferences addressing the issue, talking about how defunding has just made it impossible for police to keep the city safe.

"We're operating at 0.9 cops per 1,000 residents," Villanueva said in a recent press conference. "We have basically a skeleton operation."

Alas, none of that is literally true. Rather, they are operating atthreecops per 1,000 residents, higher than the national average of 2.5 cops per 1000 residents, and its budget has actually increased by $260 million since 2019.

Indeed, a report from ABC News says that, for the most part, police budgets across the country have increased.

ABC Owned Television Stations examined the budgets of more than 100 cities and counties and found that 83% are spending at least 2% more on police in 2022 than in 2019.

Of the 109 budgets analyzed, only eight agencies cut police funds by more than 2%, while 91 agencies increased law enforcement funding by at least 2%.

In 49 cities or counties, police funding has increased by more than 10%. [...]

ABC's analysis of police budget data shows police spending has increased in some of the very cities frequently cited by conservative politicians and pundits as places where Democrats' defunding has fueled violent crime waves.

The Los Angeles Police Department's budget is up by 9.4% since 2019. San Francisco's police budget is up by 4% and Philadelphia's is up by 3%.

In Chicago, police spending is up 15%, representing almost a quarter billion dollars in new police spending since 2019.

In Houston, where the homicide rate nearly doubled in both 2020 and 2021 before starting to subside this year, local government officials have increased police spending by nearly 9% -- almost $80 million -- from 2019 to 2022.

These statistics would be a lot more shocking if it were the job of police officers to prevent crime, which they are actually under no legal obligation to do. The irony is, "defunding the police" and allocating some of that money to social services, mental health services and community violence prevention programs would likely make communities safer than increasing police budgets would.

The problem is, reality will never matter as much as perception. People want it to be true that throwing money at police departments will make them safer, and if they believe this is what's happening, they will feel safe regardless of how much crime goes up or down. Seventy-five percent of Americans say "defunding the police" caused the rise in violent crime, in spite of the fact that it is not actually happening, and in spite of the fact that it probably had more to do with the pandemic than anything else.

Studies show that police budget increases and decreases have no effect on violent crime whatsoever. You know what actually does have an effect? The number of nonprofits.

"Drawing on a panel of 264 cities spanning more than 20 years," read one study published in the American Sociological Review, "We estimate that every 10 additional organizations focusing on crime and community life in a city with 100,000 residents leads to a 9 percent reduction in the murder rate, a 6 percent reduction in the violent crime rate, and a 4 percent reduction in the property crime rate."

This is, of course, not very fun or satisfying information, particularly for Americans, who are by and large very attached to the idea that being "tough" is what works and that being "soft" just makes things worse.

Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch also agrees that budgets don't actually matter, but says calls to defund the police in and of themselves have led to violent crime because it hurt officer morale.

"More than any budget cut, the greatest damage from the 'Defund the Police' movement was done by its anti-police, anti-public safety message," Lynch told WABC in New York. "It has created an impossible environment on the streets, one where even the simplest interactions turn into a confrontation."

The result was a massive NYPD exodus. Retirements in 2020 skyrocketed 72% from the previous year, and this year the NYPD lost more employees through the month of August than it had during that same time period in any previous year.

"As more cops quit, the workload becomes more crushing for those who remain," Lynch said. "Public safety ultimately suffers."

Some might point out that retirement and early retirement vastly increased across all sectors during the pandemic, not just in law enforcement. That being said, if cops do not feel that they can do their job without killing unarmed Black people, then yes, they probably should retire. If they feel they need the public's unwavering support to do their jobs, maybe they shouldn't be cops to begin with. People "hate" the media, people "hate" lawyers, people "hate" teachers, they hate used car salespeople, telemarketers, collection agents, baristas, dentists, dental hygienists -- that one might just be me, they're very perky -- and, of course, politicians. Those of us in those industries still manage to get up every day and do our jobs (maybe not the politicians, but still).

We can throw endless piles of money at police forces if that makes people feel better. It won't help anything, it'll be a waste of money, but we can certainly do it. If the consequences of not showering cops with cash is that people get scared and vote Republican, making all our lives worse across the board, then we may as well buy them fleets of Bentleys and solid gold badges. Let them stay inside their stations getting pedicures and told how pretty they are all day so they're not out there harassing innocent Black people, and then take another chunk of money and put it toward things that actually do work to reduce crime. It will be very expensive, but if the alternative is people voting Republican (or that moderate Democrats blame every election they lose for the next decade on the existence of the Left), I suppose we do not have much of a choice.

Then again, given that they clearly can't actually tell whether their budgets are higher or lower, we could just lie to them.

[ ABC News ]

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