Major U.S. Cities Make Strides Towards Significant Police Reform

Two major U.S. cities are taking significant steps to reform their police departments. In New York City, council members voted to slash their NYPD budget by a billion dollars. This comes after more than a month of protests which have demanded for police departments to be defunded. The money will be reallocated to programs that work with youth and community development which have been largely ignored and under funded for years. However, some people feel a billion is still not enough. It’s reported they received around 11 billion dollars annually. Meanwhile, Los Angeles is also making significant strides to reduce excessive police force. The LA City Council unanimously approved a measure that would create a an “unarmed model of crisis response”. In what’s being referred to as “the dawn of a new era”, LA leaders hope to create a community-based response force for nonviolent calls. This includes mental health crises, substance abuse and neighbor disputes.