Some of the nation’s largest, Democratic-governed cities have cut police forces since the COVID-19 pandemic as murder rates remain high, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation analysis of Census Bureau data.
New York City, Los Angeles, Portland, Austin and Washington DCThe DCNF study found that Democrat-led states had about 1,500 fewer police officers in total in 2023 than they had before the COVID-19 pandemic. analysis Census Bureau 2019 and 2023 Annual survey of public employment and salaries.
These cities have seen their police departments shrink after failing to reverse soaring homicide rates that have coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and a wave of racial justice movements calling for law enforcement reform that emerged after the death of George Floyd.
For example, Portland’s murder rate is 13.2 per 100,000 people as of 2023, up nearly 140% from 5.5 per 100,000 people before the pandemic, according to census and city data. At the same time as the murder rate is rising, Portland’s police force is down by 183 officers between 2019 and 2023, dropping from 911 to just 728. (Related story: DC prosecutor oversees huge drop in felony convictions as violent crime ravages city)
Portland cut its police budget by $15 million in 2020 under pressure from racial justice activists, defunding 84 officer positions. according to After the cuts, Portland’s murder rates increased 83 percent, the highest of any major city that year, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. report.
At the time, Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler supported cutting law enforcement budgets, but reversed course less than a year later and sought to restore some funding to the Portland Police Department.
As crime rates remain high, many people are choosing to leave Portland, with more than 4,000 residents set to leave between July 2022 and July 2023. according to To the Census Bureau.
Portland police officers face off against pro-Palestinian students during a demonstration on the campus of Portland State University (Photo: John Rudoff/AFP via Getty Images)
D.C. also caved to racial justice activists in 2020 and similarly cut its budget by $15 million. according to Washington, D.C., will have 113 fewer police officers on the payroll in 2023 than in 2019, according to census data.
At the time of the budget cuts, DC’s City Council was controlled by Democrats.
Meanwhile, the capital’s murder rate is expected to rise 72% in 2023 from 2019, rising from 23.5 to 40.4 murders per 100,000 residents, according to police and census data.
D.C. City Councilman Charles Allen, a Democrat who led the push to cut the city’s police budget, is the target of a recall campaign, with critics saying his approach to policing has led to an increase in violent crime.
New York City, which has the nation’s largest police department, lost 843 officers between 2019 and 2023, according to census data. New York, along with Portland and Washington, D.C., has been unable to keep its homicide rate below pre-pandemic levels.
New York’s murder rate per 100,000 people remains 23% higher than in 2019, according to city officials and census data. The New York Police Department (NYPD) is understaffed, raising concerns about public safety, the New York City Police Benevolent Association said. Said March.
A few months ago, in January, Democratic Mayor Eric Adams reversed plans to cut the NYPD budget, the New York Post reported. report.
Los Angeles, which has one of the largest police departments in the country, saw its police force decline by 242 personnel between 2019 and 2023, according to census figures. Meanwhile, the city’s murder rate is set to rise 32% in 2023 from 2019, according to city and census data.
Many Los Angeles residents are dissatisfied with the state of law enforcement in the city, with 51% of voters polled in February saying vote They are unhappy with the job of Democratic District Attorney George Gascón.
Austin, which lost 104 police officers between 2019 and 2023, saw its murder rate rise 76% over the same period, according to census data and city officials. The city cut its police budget by about a third in 2020, according to the Texas Tribune. report.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, sent state police to help Austin in March 2023, when the city faced a police staffing shortage. according to City leaders pushed to end that partnership after data showed state police were disproportionately arresting Black and Hispanic residents, and state police ultimately withdrew in December 2023, according to the Texas Tribune. according to to Texas Public Radio.
The mayors’ offices of those cities did not respond to DCNF’s requests for comment.
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