Crime Rise Cools Support for Major Police Reforms
The initial message of reform still has momentum, but ideas like defunding and abolition no longer win much support in cities that have experienced increases in violent crime.
Landwebs
While the initial message of police reform still has momentum, ideas like defunding and abolition no longer win much support in cities that have experienced increases in violent crime, reports The Christian Science Monitor. The Atlanta City Council, for example, was within one vote of cutting $72 million from its police department, following the nationwide anger of the killing of George Floyd. A year later, after more than 200 officers left the Atlanta Police Department and only 60 were hired, residents now worry about being crime victims. The Buckhead neighborhood in Atlanta now supports paying cops more, including bonuses of up to $2,500 just to stay put.
Many cities face a similar reckoning. A year ago in Minneapolis, nine city council members stood on a stage set with “defund the police” banners. Ron Bayor, a historian at Georgia Tech, said “‘Defund the police’ was a slogan that really backfired … because across the country – not only in Atlanta – people living in those neighborhoods who aren’t necessarily activists don’t want the police gone, especially with crime spiking. (But) what people do want is police reform.”
