Mayor Bill de Blasio announced this morning that he is cutting money from the NYPD budget and putting it toward “youth and social services”:
This morning we committed to move resources from the NYPD to youth and social services as part of our City’s budget.
Our young people need to be reached, not policed.
We can do this AND keep our city safe.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) June 7, 2020
“But he doesn’t say how much or when”:
After mounting pressure, the mayor says he will divert NYPD funding to social services. But he doesn't say how much or when. https://t.co/goPunyZgpj
— Jorge Arangure (@jorgearangure) June 7, 2020
He says he hears the “Defund the Police” protesters, but we’re not sure this is what they had in mind:
Saying “I hear you” is not enough. Here’s what I’m doing right now to make our city more just: pic.twitter.com/PoTu1xgxP2
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) June 7, 2020
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for example, wants the NYPD to cut $1 billion out of its $6 billon budget:
AOC backs 'Defund the Police' movement and calls for NYC to slash $1bn from NYPD's $6bn budget https://t.co/XTRtTozcsD
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) June 7, 2020
What an insane number anyway:
The NYPD’s budget is $6,000,000,000
That’s more than the city spends on health, homelessness, youth development and workforce development combined.
— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) June 7, 2020
Oh, and she think the military budget is connected to the police budgets because we spend so, so much on the military that we have all these extra “tanks” around — yes, tanks — and she want the Pentagon to stop giving them away:
Rep. @AOC: "We would not be giving local police departments who are undertrained A TANK if we didn't give the military too much money to have extra damn tanks lying around to begin with." pic.twitter.com/8VUBieyTZD
— The Hill (@thehill) June 6, 2020
Does she really think the Pentagon is selling tanks to police departments?
Tank Blast!
A #USArmy M1A1 Abrams tank fires at a target during unit gunnery training at Fort Stewart, Ga., March 29, 2018.
Soldiers assigned to the 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment conducted the training. pic.twitter.com/Pvgq8HgLf6
— U.S. Army (@USArmy) April 15, 2018
Sure, let’s have a debate on donating surplus military equipment to police forces, but words matter.
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