A year after 'Defund,' police departments get their money back

In cities across the U.S., police departments are getting their money back.

From New York to Los Angeles, departments that saw their funding targeted amid nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd last year have watched as local leaders voted for increases in police spending, with an additional $200 million allocated to the New York Police Department and a 3% boost given to the Los Angeles force.

Perhaps nowhere has the contrast been as stark as in Dallas, where Johnson not only proposed to restore money to the department but also moved to increase the number of officers on the street, writing over the summer that "Dallas needs more police officers."

The department's headquarters sit on Botham Jean Boulevard, renamed earlier this year for the Black Dallas man who was shot and killed in his home in 2018 by an off-duty Dallas police officer, Amber Guyger, who mistook his apartment for her own.

In Dallas, Black residents account for about 24% of the population and Hispanics about 42%. Bazaldua said he was labeled the "Defunder" by his opponents last year because of his desire to move some funding from the police overtime budget and put it toward better street lighting, particularly along a section of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard where there are many boarded-up businesses.

The police union even took out a billboard by the exit to his home, Bazaldua said, warning that he had "Voted to defund our police."

The budget also included more money for alternatives to police intervention, such as specialized teams trained to handle 911 calls for people in mental health distress.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/a-year-after-defund-police-departments-get-their-money-back/