Major cities throughout the country have seen massive spikes in crime since they have pulled funding from their police departments. Unfortunately, these cities are finding out the hard way that fewer police officers do not equal less crime.
Quick Turn Around
In Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority chose to increase the funding for their law enforcement contracts. This funding will add $36 million from this month through the end of the year to the LSPD, LA County Sheriffs, and the Long Beach Police Department.
This increase in funding is in direct response to the rise in crime that has been seen across the city.
According to CBSLA, LA Metro CEO Phillip Washington said, “Our hope is that the public and the board understand that we’re trying as a staff to get to a good balance here in terms of policing on our system, trying to get to a happy medium here understanding both perspectives.”
While the vote adds much-needed funding to the police departments, it still falls short of the $111 million originally put forth. The board hopes to find alternatives to law enforcement and use the extra money on those initiatives.
Finding a Balance
Meanwhile, the departments will have to balance lowering the crime rates on a tight budget. Amid anti-police sentiment, Metro Board CEO Washington says he is also aware of the public’s perspective and the balance that needs to be achieved.
“I do understand both perspectives, from a lived experience as an African American male, I understand completely what we are saying about policing, but also as someone who reviews every incident report on the system, I do believe we need some level of security on the system.”
LA Metro CEO Phillip Washington
LAPD turns it attention to managing the sharp increase in their overall crime stats.
LA Crime Statistics
During the summer of 2020, LAPD’s budget was cut by $150 million, taking 231 officers off the streets. The result was a 35% increase in crime over the past year.
In particular, gun crimes have gone up. In January of 2021, there were 39 homicides in LA, increasing by 34% over the past year.
Defunding is Not the Answer
Cities with traditionally high crime rates are realizing that defunding their police officers was not the answer to their problems. In fact, it just created more.
