Leftist allies of Chicago&#8217;s new Mayor Brandon Johnson have proposed a budget plan that would tax the rich and businesses, and would effectively defund police in a city already nearly crippled by crime.
The <a href="https://acrecampaigns.org/research_post/first-we-get-the-money/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">budget plan</a> was proposed by ACRE, the Action Center on Race and the Economy, in conjunction with the People&#8217;s Unity Platform and is titled &#8220;$12 Billion for a Just Chicago.&#8221; The first page begins with step one of the plan: &#8220;First we get the money.&#8221;
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The plan also calls for eliminating all current vacant positions at the Chicago Police Department AND cutting the CPD budget by 9%.
&mdash; Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomBevanRCP/status/1658850985874190346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
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One of the plan&#8217;s authors, Saqib Bhatti, was a member of Johnson&#8217;s transition team.
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Big congratulations to ACRE&#39;s <a href="https://twitter.com/snbhatti?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@snbhatti</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/FREEwrites_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FREEwrites_</a> for being named to two transition subcommittees for mayor-elect Brandon Johnson &amp; working toward a stronger, more equitable, safer Chicago. <a href="https://t.co/oZPZr0tUFI">https://t.co/oZPZr0tUFI</a>
&mdash; ACRE (@ACREcampaigns) <a href="https://twitter.com/ACREcampaigns/status/1653044102940819459?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2023</a></blockquote>
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ACRE touted the budget plan in a tweet claiming it would &#8220;reimagine everything in the city from policing to climate justice, housing &amp; more.&#8221;
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🚨🚨🚨 New report alert! 🚨🚨🚨
Learn how a moral budget for Chicago would reimagine everything in the city from policing to climate justice, housing &amp; more: <a href="https://t.co/o9Q4pWm11R">https://t.co/o9Q4pWm11R</a> <a href="https://t.co/fW7zCn0BS5">pic.twitter.com/fW7zCn0BS5</a>
&mdash; ACRE (@ACREcampaigns) <a href="https://twitter.com/ACREcampaigns/status/1658865069222944774?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The <a href="https://acrecampaigns.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/First-We-Get-the-Money.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">budget plan</a> calls for $12 billion in new taxes — which would reportedly come in part from reducing the Chicago Police Department <a href="https://news.wttw.com/2023/01/02/sparing-residents-tax-hikes-months-election-chicago-s-2023-budget-takes-effect#:~:text=The%20Chicago%20Police%20Department%27s%20budget,a%20total%20of%20%241.94%20billion." target="_blank" rel="noopener">budget</a> ($1.94 billion in 2023) by 9%, or approximately $175 million. The city would also eliminate all current police department vacancies – which, <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2022/8/31/23331411/cpd-chicago-police-vacancies-detectives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in August of 2022</a>, amounted to over 900 patrol officer vacancies and over 100 detective vacancies.
Corporations — or any business with at least 50 employees — would face a &#8220;head tax&#8221; of $33 per employee, which the report estimated would bring in $106 million in new revenue. Anyone making more than $100,000 would face an additional 3.5% income tax – totaling approximately $1.2 billion. The city&#8217;s top 10% of earners would also get hit with a .4% wealth tax – amounting to $960 million annually.
A real estate transfer tax on transactions of over $1 million — which the report states would generate $1.63 million in revenue — would be used to fund housing projects that the report claims would &#8220;eliminate homelessness.&#8221;
The plan also demanded that Chicago refuse to use any federal money to fund law enforcement or Wall Street interests, arguing that investing that money in public housing would contribute more to community safety.
The conclusion, according to ACRE, was that the city&#8217;s budget had to be approached from a morality standpoint – and that previous budgets had not done so to their satisfaction.
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&#8220;A city budget is a moral document. A moral budget should reflect residents’ priorities and needs. The challenges Black and Brown communities in Chicago are facing today are a direct reflection of the immoral budgets that mayors and alderpeople have imposed on residents for decades,&#8221; the report stated, claiming that Chicago&#8217;s policing system had always been &#8220;racist&#8221; and had not contributed to safer communities.

Brandon Johnson Is Sworn In As The 57th Mayor Of Chicago

‘First We Get The Money’: Chicago’s New Mayor Linked To Wild Budget Proposal That Attacks Businesses And Cops

Chicago's New Mayor Linked To Wild Budget Proposal That Attacks Businesses And Cops

Brandon Johnson

Chicago

Defund The Police

Economics

Illinois

Lori Lightfoot

Politics

Taxes

Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> (D-NY) thinks Mayor Eric Adams should fund community violence prevention programs without law enforcement rather than increase police wages.
In an interview with “The Daily Show,” Ocasio-Cortez discussed the “Stand Up to Violence” program at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, which addresses violence as a public health issue and allows social workers to investigate shootings without law enforcement.
When the show’s host, Jordan Klepper, asked if Mayor Adams misplaced funding that bumps rookie NYPD cop’s annual salary by 28%, Ocasio-Cortez said she “thinks so.”
“We are now at a point where officially, most officers are paid more than a teacher with a master&#8217;s degree serving these same kids involved in these same incidents,” Ocasio-Cortez <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIhCY9Z5ENs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Contrary to her comments, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/04/18/aoc-slams-adams-over-cop-raises-says-nyc-defunding-safety/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> the city’s Department of Education said teachers with a master&#8217;s degree and teaching experience make between $68,000 to $83,900.
“We are defunding safety, defunding our public schools, defunding our public pools, defunding our parks [and] defunding our libraries,&#8221; she said. “When we are taking all of those resources and demanding that every single department — except the militarized one — be cut, we are sending a message about who and what we care about.”
Earlier this month, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/04/05/adams-strikes-deal-with-nypd-union-that-would-bump-cops-pay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> Mayor Adams struck a tentative eight-year agreement retroactive deal with the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) — the city’s largest police union — which raises new officers’ salaries by more than $12,000 amid low recruitment numbers and departures. The deal also grants back pay to officers in addition to a 3.5% raise this August and a 4% raise in 2024.
PBA President Patrick Lynch said the city had already lost “far too many talented cops to better paying and less stressful policing jobs” in other departments.
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“This agreement is not only a major step toward closing our pay gap relative to other police departments — it also significantly improves our members’ quality of life,” Lynch said.
The deal will give rookie cops salaries from $42,000 to $55,000 per year once PBA officials approve the agreement, projected to cost taxpayers $5.5 billion through 2025.

House Oversight Subcommittee Hearing On Infant Formula Shortage

AOC Says NYC Mayor Should Fund Community Violence Prevention Programs Over Raising Police Wages

Congress

Democratic Party

Eric Adams

New York City

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/president-joe-biden-had-cancerous-tissue-removed-white-house-doctor-reveals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Joe Biden</a> made the unlikely claim Tuesday that it is Republicans who are pushing for &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-white-house-has-been-hosting-defund-the-police-activists/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defunding the police</a>,&#8221; despite near universal GOP support for law enforcement and the fact that cutting police budgets was his own party&#8217;s rallying cry in 2020.
Speaking at a recreation center in Monterey Park, California, the same community in which a gunman killed 11 and wounded nine inside a dance studio on January 21, Biden announced an executive order with new gun control measures. The order, which would increase background checks for gun purchases, promote “red flag” orders, and make public federal records on violations by firearms dealers, has been met with opposition from Republicans.
“Congressional Republicans should pass my budget instead of calling for cuts to these services or defunding the police or abolishing the FBI, as we hear from our MAGA Republican friends,” Biden said.
While it is true that some Republicans have called for abolishing the scandal-ridden FBI, calls for defunding police departments have been the exclusive province of Democrats ever since the George Floyd riots of 2020. Biden himself was not among Democrats calling to cut police budgets, but Vice President Kamala Harris praised then-L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti for planning to lop up to $150 million from his city&#8217;s police budget.
“Right now, what we’re seeing in America is many cities spend over one-third of their entire city budget on policing but meanwhile we’ve been defunding public schools for years in America,” Harris said in June of 2020.
The funding of police departments is a local matter, but GOP governors like Florida’s <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/desantis-announces-1000-bonuses-for-police-first-responders-we-will-always-support-our-law-enforcement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ron DeSantis</a> or Texas’ <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/we-support-our-law-enforcement-gov-abbott-announces-new-rules-to-stop-texas-cities-from-defunding-police/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Greg Abbott</a> have staunchly supported the police. Meanwhile, “defund the police” advocates have been visiting the White House or meeting with White House aides, which White House visitor logs revealed as reported last June.
Some of those activists included Rashad Robinson, the president of Color of Change; Carmen Rojas, the president and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation; Latosha Brown, the co-founder of Black Voters Matter; and Tylik McMillan, who serves as the “National Director of Youth [and] College” at Al Sharpton&#8217;s National Action Network, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-white-house-hosted-defund-police-activists" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a> reported.
“So many people are twisting themselves into word pretzels,” Rojas <a href="https://twitter.com/crojasphd/status/1382876377993474048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">tweeted</a> in 2021. “They say we need justice in one breathe &amp; not all police are bad in the next. We must be unwavering in our commitment to freedom. The best way to realize it is to defund the police and support abolition. Period.”
Rojas “visited the White House in December 2021 and appeared to meet with Nia Page,” a Special Assistant to then-Biden adviser Cedric Richmond, Fox News noted. Rojas’ Marguerite Casey Foundation had also <a href="https://www.caseygrants.org/recent-news/marguerite-casey-foundation-announces-5-increase-in-funding-to-cause-dedicated-to-ending-police-violence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">featured</a> Robinson on its board; Robinson also visited the White House in 2021 and reportedly met with Richmond.
Color of Change pushed to &#8220;dismantle&#8221; and replace the Minneapolis Police Department in 2021, according to Fox News. They created a <a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/defund_police_national/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">petition</a> titled, “TAKE ACTION: Defund the police, and invest in communities now!” The petition states, “The Minneapolis City Council recently approved a potential ballot measure that would change the city charter and dismantle the Minneapolis Police. Now it’s up to us to hold them accountable, push for further systemic changes.”
In March 2022, the Marguerite Casey Foundation tweeted, &#8220;#DefundthePolice.”
Brown, according to the White House visitor logs and Fox News, has communicated with Vincent Evans, who worked for Vice President Harris&#8217;s office.  Referring to police reform, Brown stated, &#8220;It&#8217;s kind of like having weeds in the yard. You can cut the weeds down, you know, when you&#8217;re mowing the grass, but until you uproot or kill the weeds, it will still take over your yard,&#8221; <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/cnn-panelist-likens-defunding-police-uprooting-weeds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> the Washington Examiner.
“In August 2020, Brown promoted a ‘Defund the Police 101 Teach-In’ event led by two other defund the police activists,” Fox News stated.

Biden announces new executive order to curb gun violence in California

Say What? Biden Claims It Is Republicans Who Want To Defund Police

Joe Biden

Republicans

U.S.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/police" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Police</a> officers in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york-city" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York City</a> are resigning at a record-breaking pace this year, according to <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/10/nypd-cops-resigning-from-force-in-2023-at-record-pace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new data</a> analyzed by the New York Post. 
In the first two months of 2023, 239 officers left the New York City Police Department, substantially more than the 176 who left in 2022 and the 110 who left in 2021 during the same time period. 
“The NYPD staffing emergency is approaching the point of no return,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said. “We are losing cops to better pay and benefits in other policing jobs almost every day.”
Officers have said that poor working conditions, pay, and politics have all contributed to the large number of officers leaving the force. 
“Precinct cops are being forced to work an inhumane amount of overtime, including on their days off, while being penalized for minor uniform and administrative infractions,” one officer told The Post. “Meanwhile, precincts barely have enough personnel to meet the minimum required to safely answer 911 calls.”
If resignations continue at the current pace, about 1,400 officers will have quit the department by the end of the year. Some of the officers are going to work for New York’s metro system while others have moved to states like Florida. 
According to one Manhattan cop, the NYPD is rife with mismanagement. “Hundreds of cops are being hidden under fake assignments or assigned to headquarters sitting at a desk all day and are considered ‘untouchable’ for patrol or enforcement duty because they have high-ranking supervisors protecting them,” he told The Post. 
A spokesman for City Hall said that public safety remained the city’s “top priority” and that the city had seen a decline in certain violent crimes despite a nationwide labor shortage. 
Many officers started leaving in the wake of the violent protests over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis that rocked the country in 2020. 
“The allure and luster of the NYPD is gone for now. They need to restore that,” said Spero Georgedakis, the founder of Good Greek Moving and Storage who helps move former New York cops to Florida.
Retirements have also ticked up in the department as crime in the city increases and the department struggles to effectively manage its limited resources. 
Lynch said that the city needed to increase benefits and pay for the officers to keep more from leaving. “If that doesn’t happen very, very soon, we won’t have a police department left,” he said. 
The increase in resignations comes as the NYPD has <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/01/nypd-kills-timed-run-requirement-for-new-nyc-cops/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decreased</a> fitness requirements, with the department recently cutting a timed 1.5-mile run in part so more women could qualify for the force. 
Police departments across the country have struggled to recruit in recent years, a trend that has come alongside increased anti-police sentiment in major cities and the “defund the police” movement backed by some Democrat politicians.

Saturday Evening At Broadway And Times Square In New York

‘Point Of No Return’: Police Leaving NYPD At Record-Breaking Pace

Crime

Police

Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), who is one of the top promoters of the far-left &#8220;defund the police&#8221; movement in Congress, has reportedly married a private security guard that her campaign hired.
Bush was married at a private ceremony last weekend to Cortney Merritts after signing a marriage license with him a few days prior.
NBC affiliate KSDK <a href="https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/politics/congresswoman-cori-bush-marries-campaign-security-guard-wedding/63-7652bd27-3e9b-48e3-94ae-3971ae551749">reported</a> that Bush&#8217;s campaign paid Merritts $62,359 in direct payments in 2022 for security services and $2,359 for cash reimbursements.
The payments to Merritts started after the two entered a relationship with each other, the report said, noting that the campaign expenses could draw the attention of the FEC and the Congressional Ethics Office.
&#8220;Campaign funds are not to be used to enhance a Member&#8217;s lifestyle, or to pay a Member&#8217;s personal obligations,&#8221; House rules state. &#8220;Members have wide discretion in determining what constitutes a bona fide campaign or political purpose to which campaign funds and resources may be devoted, but Members have no discretion whatsoever to convert campaign funds to personal use.&#8221;
A spokesperson for Bush released a statement on Monday confirming the marriage, saying that Merritts was &#8220;the love of [Bush&#8217;s] life.&#8221;
&#8220;Mr. Merritts, a veteran of the U.S. Army and a security professional, has been Congresswoman Bush’s partner since before her Congressional tenure and is not employed by her Congressional office,&#8221; the statement added. &#8220;Our team has come to know and appreciate Mr. Merritts as a loving and caring Congressional spouse.&#8221;
Bush is a staunch opponent of law enforcement and has repeatedly called for defunding the police and has doubled down on position when confronted by left-wing media organizations.
&#8220;If you could do it again, would you still double down or use that slogan, ‘defund the police?’&#8221; CNN host Don Lemon <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/democrat-cori-bush-doubles-down-defunding-police-cnn-absolutely-still-supports">asked</a> in October 2022. &#8220;Absolutely,&#8221; Bush responded.
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Bush made <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-cori-bush-reignites-calls-for-defunding-the-police-amid-violent-crime-surge">similar remarks</a> around that time during an interview with ABC News when she was asked if her rhetoric could hurt vulnerable Democrats in competitive districts.
“The thing about ‘defund the police’ is we have to tell the entire narrative,” Bush responded. “People hear ‘defund the police,’ but you know what they’ll say, say ‘reallocate,’ say ‘divest,’ say ‘move,’ but it’s still the same thing.”
“We can’t get caught up on the words,” Bush continued. “People spend more time focusing on the word ‘defund’ than they spend on caring and addressing the problem of police violence in this country.”

Cori Bush

‘Defund The Police’ Advocate Cori Bush Marries Security Guard

The top police union leader of New York City accused NYPD officials of refusing to acknowledge the department&#8217;s recruitment and retention crisis after losing more staff members last year than in the previous two decades.
&#8220;The NYPD is playing a dangerous game by refusing to acknowledge and address its recruitment and retention crisis,&#8221; New York City Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/nypd-sees-largest-staff-exodus-decades-as-leaders-refusing-acknowledge-mounting-crisis-union-boss">Fox News Digital</a>. &#8220;New Yorkers are demanding more police presence in their neighborhoods and on the subway, but we just don&#8217;t have the staffing to provide it consistently.&#8221;
Lynch called out authorities after the association claimed the department fell short of some 600 recruits when it needed over 1,200 new recruits to reach the current budgeted headcount and 2,500 new recruits to get back to staffing levels from 2019.
&#8220;Underpaying &amp; overworking police officers is hurting public safety,&#8221; The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, which represents over 50,000 active and retired New York City Police Officers, said in a tweet. &#8220;The time to fix it is NOW. #NYPDExodus&#8221;
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Hiring day at <a href="https://twitter.com/NYPDTraining?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NYPDTraining</a> Academy:   We needed +1,200 new recruits to reach the current budgeted headcount, or 2,500 to get back to 2019 staffing levels.⁰ We got 543.   Underpaying &amp; overworking police officers is hurting public safety. The time to fix it is NOW. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NYPDExodus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NYPDExodus</a> <a href="https://t.co/gLd5mh0l3i">pic.twitter.com/gLd5mh0l3i</a>
&mdash; NYC PBA (@NYCPBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NYCPBA/status/1615378153236533248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
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New York City Police Pension Fund data reported by Fox News show 3,701 members left the force last year, of which 1,955 retired and 1,746 quit in 2022. The figure marks the department&#8217;s largest number of officers leaving the force in the previous 20 years, the news outlet reported.
In the year after the horrific events of 9/11, data showed 3,846 NYPD members left or quit the force in 2002.
Data between 2010 and 2019 showed the department lost an average of 2,112 members.
&#8220;Many talented, dedicated recruits don&#8217;t want to raise their hand for the NYPD because they&#8217;ll be paid better and treated better at almost any other police department,&#8221; Lynch told Fox News Digital. &#8220;New York City needs to make a major investment in paying and treating its police officers like professionals. It can&#8217;t afford not to.&#8221;
Lynch added the crisis has only emboldened criminals and endangered residents and tourists in the metropolitan area.
NYPD <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nypd-crime-stats-show-murder-rate-increases-as-overall-crime-drops-in-november">statistics</a> last year show murder rates and other major crimes increased across New York City in November despite authorities claiming the overall index crime decreased by just over 1% compared to the same time last year.
Crimes like burglary, grand larceny, and cases of rape dropped as much as 14%. Other stats show felony assaults were up 3%, robberies jumped by 3.6%, and car thefts increased to 9.4%. However, most notably, the police report showed 30 homicides occurred in the city during November, up from 25 in the same month during 2021.
Those numbers followed a summer of crime waves that washed over city neighborhoods like the West Village and Greenwich Village, where business owners and residents expressed their frustrations over the neighborhood&#8217;s lack of law and order.
NYPD officials in August compared to the same year&#8217;s crime stats, which said Manhattan&#8217;s 6th Precinct saw an 80% increase in overall significant crimes, with burglaries up 119% and grand larcenies up more than 100%.
Union officials said several variables caused officers to leave the force, including burnout due to fewer officers forced to carry the workload and growing scrutiny. At the same time, other factors include some officers receiving 30% less pay than the average New York City officer and, ultimately, low morale among the ranks.
Former NYPD officer and lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Jillian Snider told Fox News authorities began leaving the force in 2019, but the &#8220;Defund the Police&#8221; rhetoric made it a bigger issue.
An NYPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Thursday that &#8220;the NYPD regularly monitors attrition and plans accordingly to address the loss of officers who retire or leave the Department for a variety of reasons.&#8221;
&#8220;While recent events outside of the department continue to present challenges to recruitment efforts, we continue to focus on the positive results that happen when someone joins this organization,&#8221; the spokesperson said. &#8220;In January 2023, we hired more than 500 individuals who have begun training at the Police Academy in addition to the approximately 2000 individuals we hired in 2022.&#8221;

New 9/11 Memorial Wall Unveiled In Lower Manhattan Pays Tribute To NYPD Officers Who Died

‘The NYPD Is Playing A Dangerous Game’: Top Police Union Leader Calls Out Authorities’ Refusal To Admit Recruitment Issues

Top NYC Police Union Leader Calls Out Authorities Refusal To Admit Recruitment Issues

New York Police Department (NYPD)

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said Monday all individuals involved in the events leading up to, during, and after the beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, could face additional charges.
&#8220;This includes the officer present at the initial encounter who has not — so far — been charged, Memphis Fire Department personnel, and persons who participated in preparing documentation of the incident afterward,&#8221; the district attorney&#8217;s office told <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/6th-officer-involved-tyre-nichols-death-relieved-duty/story?id=96764687">ABC News</a>.
Mulroy spoke to &#8220;<a href="https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/cnr/date/2023-01-29/segment/05">CNN Newsroom Sunday</a>,&#8221; saying he could not comment on an ongoing investigation or an ongoing prosecution when asked if the public could see other individuals charged in the case.
&#8220;We&#8217;re going to need time to allow the investigation to go forward in further consideration of charges,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But I will say this, nothing we did last Thursday regarding the indictments precludes us from bringing other charges later.&#8221;
At least two Memphis Fire Department employees and two Shelby County Sheriff&#8217;s deputies are being investigated, according to a report by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/28/us/tyre-nichols-beating-video-takeaways/index.html">CNN</a>.
Memphis Fire Department spokesperson Qwanesha Ward told the news outlet two fire department employees who were part of Nichols&#8217; &#8220;initial patient care&#8221; were relieved of duty &#8220;while an internal investigation is being conducted.&#8221;
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. said two deputies &#8220;who appeared on the scene following the physical confrontation&#8221; have sparked an internal investigation, adding both deputies &#8220;have been relieved of duty&#8221; pending the investigation&#8217;s outcome.
Dave Aronberg, Palm Beach County State Attorney in Florida, told <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/crime/shelby-county-da-wont-rule-out-charges-being-filed-against-additional-people-for-tyre-nichols-death2/">Mediaite</a> that if the district attorney&#8217;s office pursues additional charges against the Memphis Fire Department or Shelby County deputies, it would &#8220;hinge&#8221; on their official job duties.
&#8220;The big question from a criminal and civil standpoint is &#8216;did they have a legal duty to intervene?'&#8221; Aronberg said. &#8220;That duty exists because of the position they are in. It wouldn&#8217;t apply to a civilian bystander but would definitely apply to a police officer or EMT who stood by and did nothing.&#8221;
However, Aronber noted the charges would depend on Tennessee law and would not speculate as a Florida prosecutor on another state&#8217;s law.
Mulroy&#8217;s comments come days after announcing charges against five former Memphis Police Department officers who were arrested and charged in connection to the incident for their alleged involvement in the death of the 29-year-old male, who died earlier this month in a hospital days after the confrontation.
Those officers include Emmit Martin III, Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Desmond Mills for Nichols&#8217; death.
Authorities charged each officer with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping involving the possession of a weapon, aggravated kidnapping resulting in bodily injury, official misconduct through unauthorized exercise of power, official misconduct through failure to act when there is a duty imposed by law, and official oppression.
Memphis Police Department representatives told ABC that authorities relieved a sixth officer Preston Hemphill of duty during an ongoing investigation, which found the officer deployed his Taser during the confrontation.
Hemphill, the third officer at Nichols&#8217; initial traffic stop, was heard on his body camera video saying twice, &#8220;I hope they stomp his a**,&#8221; ABC reported.
&#8220;As per departmental regulations Officer Hemphill activated his bodycam,&#8221; Lee Gerald, an attorney representing Hemphill, said earlier in a statement to ABC. &#8220;He was never present at the second scene. He is cooperating with officials in this investigation.&#8221;
Police body camera footage was released Friday evening, showing the confrontation between former Memphis Police Department officers and Nichols after officers pulled him over for &#8220;reckless driving&#8221; on January 7.
Nichols ran away from authorities on foot as they attempted to apprehend him.
Nichols died three days later on January 10.

US-POLICE-JUSTICE-DEMO

Shelby County D.A. Says All Individuals Involved In Tyre Nichols Confrontation Could Face Charges

General

Memphis

Police Brutality

The majority of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michigan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michigan</a> voters aren’t too excited to hop on the woke train, even as their <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whitmer-says-small-businesses-have-her-support-these-small-business-owners-havent-forgotten-her-shutdowns/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">governor</a> climbs aboard.
According to data from the Michigan GOP and Victory Modeling, only around one in five Michiganders fully support woke ideas such as defunding the police, social media <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/big-tech-worked-closely-with-the-fbi-and-dhs-to-police-disinformation/">censorship</a>, transgender athletes in women’s sports, and Critical Race Theory. Of the nearly 20,000 potential voters surveyed by the party from April through the end of September, nearly 40% stood strongly opposed to woke culture. Another 40% stood in the middle, accepting some woke terminology while opposing other woke ideas.
The Michigan Republican Party is hoping to use the data it has collected to create messaging that hits home with voters across the state as the 2022 election season flies into its final week.
“Given the massive cash advantage the Democrats had, we knew we had to invest in a data program early to ensure we were making the best use out of the funds we did have, in large part thanks to Chairman [Ronald] Weiser&#8217;s $5 million investment into the Party,&#8221; Michigan GOP Chief of Staff Paul Cordes said in a statement to The Daily Wire.
Gov. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gretchen-whitmer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gretchen Whitmer</a> (D-MI) has taken heat during her 2022 re-election campaign for comments she made about defunding the police during protests and riots in the summer of 2020. During an Instagram live interview with The Root in June 2020, Whitmer said she supported “the spirit” of the “defund the police” movement.
“It’s really about reprioritizing and rebuilding communities, not just policing. That this is really about where do we, where do we prioritize our resources,&#8221; she said, <a href="https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2020/06/09/michigan-gov-whitmer-supports-spirit-of-defunding-police-open-to-ending-qualified-immunity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Click on Detroit. “You look at budgets and they’re focused on policing — they should be focused on education, transportation, access to health care, access to skills and leveling the playing field.&#8221;
“I think you do all those other things, you don’t need all the money that’s going to the police departments. So, yeah, I mean, the spirit of it, I do support that spirit of it,” Whitmer added.
The governor attempted to clarify her position on the issue last month, <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-gov-whitmer-defunding-police-dangerous-and-foolish?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> that defunding the police is “dangerous and foolish.” In a press release, the governor also highlighted a $1 billion investment to fund police, fire, and first responders in a budget approved by a Republican-majority legislature and signed by Whitmer in July.
Two years later, the Democratic governor was criticized for pushing another woke term; this one about sexuality. In a Zoom interview with the Michigan Democratic Party in July, Whitmer was discussing an amendment to the state’s constitution to protect abortion rights when she <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michigans-gretchen-whitmer-refers-women-menstruating-people-gop-gov-hopefuls-respond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">referred</a> to women as “menstruating people.” The term has gained popularity on the Left from LGBTQ activists and politicians who seek to avoid offending biological men who identify as female.
After the remark, Whitmer was blasted by her Republican opponent and gubernatorial candidate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tudor-dixon-reveals-massive-plan-to-give-more-funding-to-michigan-police/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tudor Dixon</a> who said it was more evidence of the Democratic Party going “insane.”
Michigan Republicans also came out with an ad Wednesday targeting the governor’s comments about the “defund the police” movement as well as Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel’s record on crime.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Too Dangerous For Michigan" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xk45zywDFL8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;Over the last four months, not only have we had a message that is resonating with voters, but we were able to use our modeling to create audiences of voters who needed to hear it and deliver it to them in an extremely effective manner,” Cordes added. “We were able to use these models to influence millions of dollars in spending in our digital, TV, streaming and mail plans.&#8221;

Gretchen Whitmer

Data Show Most Michigan Voters Don’t Go Along With Woke Culture. Their Governor Flirts With It.

2022 Election

2022 Midterms

LGBTQ

Michigan

Social Issues

Woke Culture

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oregon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oregon</a> Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan called out her Democratic opponent Tina Kotek in a debate on Wednesday night, as Kotek discussed her alleged support for law enforcement.
When <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/politics/elections/kgw-governor-debate-drazan-johnson-kotek/283-bca6f125-fcaa-4b8b-92e8-4a35d76f6104" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responding</a> to a question about whether the candidates believe more police officers are needed and how to fill the empty spots, Kotek said she thought more were needed.
&#8220;When people call 911, they need to feel safe and have the right response at the right time,” Kotek <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/politics/elections/kgw-governor-debate-drazan-johnson-kotek/283-bca6f125-fcaa-4b8b-92e8-4a35d76f6104" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;And we do need more officers. And one of the things the state can do is increase the number of classes and trainings that are available. … I’ve always supported our state police. It’s important to have state police around the state to particularly serve our rural communities…”
“We also need to have different types of response,” she said.
<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ArBOzBgA0k" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ArBOzBgA0k" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9905">CLICK HERE TO WATCH ELECTION WIRE FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND POLLING ON THE UPCOMING MIDTERMS</a>
Drazan countered, stating, &#8220;Tina Kotek is the original defund-the-police candidate. She did not support police even when rioters were attacking a police station. It&#8217;s stunning to me that she would talk now like she supports law enforcement.”
&#8220;As governor, I will fully fund state police,&#8221; Drazan continued. &#8220;As governor, I will support law enforcement, because we need it in our communities. Our communities are less safe today because we have fewer police on our streets.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Drazan: Tina Kotek Is The &quot;Original Defund The Police Candidate&quot;" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FZVIga-iKS4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson responded in agreement with Drazan, saying, “I will join Ms. Drazan in saying I’m surprised by Tina’s answer because we’ve got to start by respecting our police.”
&#8220;That doesn&#8217;t mean walking with the rioters or excoriating the police when the riots were happening. Tina wrote a letter to [Democratic Mayor of Portland] Ted Wheeler siding with the rioters. Ted, incidentally, also showed up with the rioters,” she added.
Drazan’s campaign further extrapolated on the Republican candidate’s point in a campaign email, noting that Kotek <a href="https://christinefororegon.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0693e18ac651cec38104bf462&amp;id=82245358d2&amp;e=23e77b982d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said on Twitter</a> that police &#8220;continued to escalate tense situations&#8221; during riots she called &#8220;large, non-violent assemblies.&#8221; The campaign also pointed out, “[Kotek] also made dismissive comments on riots and vandalism, <a href="https://christinefororegon.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0693e18ac651cec38104bf462&amp;id=0ea07f5c5d&amp;e=23e77b982d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claiming</a>: ‘What needed to be protected last night? An empty office building?’”
In her tweet, Kotek called out police officers who she said were displaying “physical intimidation” to journalists.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The physical intimidation of journalists by Portland police officers is a threat to the First Amendment and a free press.
It&#39;s appalling and must stop. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/orpol?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#orpol</a> <a href="https://t.co/Hp2kle66Kl">https://t.co/Hp2kle66Kl</a> <a href="https://t.co/MZVipQ32a0">pic.twitter.com/MZVipQ32a0</a>
&mdash; Tina Kotek (@TinaKotek) <a href="https://twitter.com/TinaKotek/status/1273397543221596161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Drazan’s campaign also stated that Kotek has “welcomed the endorsements of NARAL, which openly <a href="https://christinefororegon.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0693e18ac651cec38104bf462&amp;id=a6f5275ea9&amp;e=23e77b982d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">supported</a> defunding the police, as well as <a href="https://christinefororegon.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0693e18ac651cec38104bf462&amp;id=9ae9edd163&amp;e=23e77b982d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AFT-Oregon</a>, who published &#8211; and have since deleted” a social media post supporting the abolition of police forces.
&#8220;Tina Kotek is the original defund the police candidate, she can try to rewrite her record, but every Oregonian knows the truth,&#8221; Drazan Communications Director John Burke stated. &#8220;She had a choice between rioters and the men and women who keep us safe. She chose rioters. Oregonians can&#8217;t trust her to protect our communities and they can&#8217;t trust her to support our police.&#8221;

53877B9B-2405-4C94-9128-86F74F6051B2_1_201_a

GOP Oregon Gubernatorial Candidate Calls Out Democratic Opponent: ‘Original Defund-The-Police Candidate’

GOP Oregon Gubernatorial Candidate Christine Drazan Calls Out Democratic Opponent Tina Kotek: ‘Original Defund-The-Police Candidate’

Oregon

Three days after Stockton police officers arrested a “potential serial killer” for allegedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/murder" target="_blank" rel="noopener">murdering</a> six men and wounding a woman over the last 18 months, authorities charged the suspect Tuesday with three counts of murder and firearms offenses.
Stockton Police Department officials took Wesley Brownlee, 43, of Stockton, into custody around 2 a.m. Saturday for allegedly stalking a potential victim near a city park Saturday night, The Los Angeles Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-18/stockton-serial-killer-suspect-charged-murders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a>.
According to San Joaquin County Superior Court records, authorities charged Brownlee for allegedly murdering Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez on August 30, Juan Cruz on September 21, and Lawrence Lopez Sr. on September 27.
Authorities did not charge Brownlee for the fatal shooting of Paul Alexander Yaw on July 8 or Salvador Debudey Jr. on August 11, the Times reports. Although, police said those cases and two others in 2021 were linked to the other deaths. Authorities allegedly identified the murders through ballistic evidence.
During a news conference, Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden said officers were able to arrest Brownlee due to community tips and “good old-fashioned police work.”
“Based on tips coming to the department’s Stockton Crimestoppers, were we able to zero in on a possible suspect,” McFadden said. “Our surveillance team followed this person while he was driving … watched his pattern and determined early this morning.”
“He was on a mission to kill,” McFadden added. “He was out hunting — we are sure we stopped another killing.”
Authorities suspected Brownlee — who has a “criminal history” — of allegedly murdering six people and wounding a woman as far back as April 2021. While two of the seven homicides happened last year, the remaining shootings happened between July and September. Most of the deadly shootings happened in Stockton within a four-mile radius.
Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln said public safety in the city is their number one priority.
“I want to make this very very clear to the people of Stockton, to the United States, and around the world. When the people of Stockton come together and we unite, we can get things done,” Lincoln said. “Stockton will be a place where people can live, raise a family and grow a business.”
ABC 10 <a href="https://www.abc10.com/article/news/crime/stockton-crime-gun-violence/103-08407b6d-d452-498e-9700-84ede3ad2d5f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in August that Stockton had seen 34 homicides in 2022 — an increase from the 26 homicides it saw at the same time last year.
Stockton Police Officers Association (SPOA) told the media outlet that the rise in crime is directly connected to fewer uniformed officers on the streets.
“With a shortage of over 100 officers, almost 20% of our staffing not here any longer and leaving more by the day, it’s emboldened the criminal element because they don’t see those uniform patrol officers on the street. They don’t see as many police officers out there,” said Patrick High, president of SPOA.
The Times reported Brownlee was scheduled to appear in court for arraignment Tuesday afternoon.

Stockton Serial Killer Suspect Charged With Three Counts Of Murder Three Days After Arrest: Police

California

Homicide

Prison

As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/democrats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Democrats</a> head into an election disavowing their prior claims to &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/defund-the-police" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defund the police</a>,&#8221; major Democrat-run cities have significantly fewer police than they did a few years ago, a Daily Wire analysis of federal data found.
Cities with populations of 500,000 or more had, combined, 2.54 police per 1,000 residents last year, versus 2.8 in 2016 and 2.75 in 2018, according to <a href="https://crime-data-explorer.app.cloud.gov/pages/downloads" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> collected from police departments across the country by the FBI. In the year 2000, the rate was 3.31.
Compared to 2018, two years before George Floyd&#8217;s killing and a wave of &#8220;Black Lives Matter&#8221; anti-police activism, New York City, which has the nation&#8217;s largest police force at over 35,000 uniformed officers, was down 1,087 officers in 2021, the most recent year for which data was available. The city slashed its budget for that year by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/01/us/new-york-budget-nypd-1-billion-cut-trnd/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$1 billion</a>.
Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed by a police officer now serving a 22-year sentence, has a police department that is down 24% in sworn officers. Los Angeles was down 500, from 10,000 to 9,500 officers.
<div id="attachment_451518" style="width: 998px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451518" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-451518" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/police-per-capita-988x576.png" alt="" width="988" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/police-per-capita-988x576.png 988w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/police-per-capita-300x175.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/police-per-capita-768x448.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/police-per-capita-1536x895.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/police-per-capita-2048x1193.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 988px) 100vw, 988px" />Daily Wire analysis of FBI data showing the number of sworn police officers per capita over time.</div>
Seattle, where protesters set up an &#8220;autonomous zone&#8221; off limits to cops—with police <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/his-son-was-killed-after-seattle-police-abandoned-their-precinct-in-the-chop-zone-now-hes-settled-a-wrongful-death-lawsuit-with-the-city" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fleeing</a> their own precinct station&#8211; saw its police force decline by 248, losing nearly 1 in 5 officers.
The Portland, Oregon, police department was down 15%, leading residents of the famously liberal city to cry on camera as they lamented how gangsters had simply taken over formerly nice residential neighborhoods, even <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/homeless/se-portland-vacant-homes-squatters-houseless/283-14b7d03c-2031-4ab0-a5c3-ce74eb97f6c0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">moving into</a> their homes when residents went on vacation.
The same decline in sworn officers was seen in liberal cities within red states. In Louisville, Kentucky, a Democrat-controlled area where unrest occurred following the police shooting of Breonna Taylor there, the number of officers was down 17%.
Austin, Texas, lost 238 officers, declining from 1,851 to 1,613. Austin officials reduced the police budget by <a href="https://assets.austintexas.gov/budget/20-21/downloads/2020-21_Approved_Budget.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$31.5 million</a> for the 2020-2021 budget year.
&#8220;This Budget continues to look at public safety holistically by reducing the planned number of police officers by 100 and reallocating just over $11 million in Police Department funding to other community safety needs including: Additional staffing and resources for the Office of Police Oversight and the Equity Office,&#8221; the budget said.
In June 2021, Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill <a href="https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-signs-back-the-blue-legislation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stopping cities</a> from reducing law enforcement funding, forcing Austin to reverse the cut this year.
Even when cities did not decrease police budgets—and some with declining police forces did not&#8211;anti-police policies have led to a wave of retirements, resignations, and difficulty recruiting for jobs in which candidates believe they are being set up to fail.
Austin said it created various other demands on police, such as a resolution calling &#8220;for zero racial disparity in motor vehicle stops, zero racial disparity in citations and arrests resulting from motor vehicle stops by 2023, zero use-of-force incidents per year by 2023, and zero deaths related to an officer-involved incident by 2023.&#8221;
There is a racial disparity in those who commit crime, according to FBI data, so such demands for “equity” could require police to let criminals go, or even be incentivized to entrap others because of their race.
Ian Prior, a former Department of Justice official in the Trump administration, told The Daily Wire the anti-cop rhetoric and enforcement policies have hurt staffing numbers as much as the actual budget cuts.
“The fact that we are seeing police officers quitting is a direct consequence of the far left’s woke agenda to not only cut resources, but smear and demean law enforcement and make those jobs more difficult and dangerous as a result,” Prior said.
He said that soft-on-crime prosecutors who have pledged not to enforce certain laws, including petty theft, make police feel that their work is for naught, with the charges they bring to prosecutors discarded.
<table style="background: black; color: #ccc; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; padding-bottom: 15px;" colspan="2">Decline In Police Force Of Major Cities, 2018-2021</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 71%; float: right;">-24%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Minneapolis</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 51%; float: right;">-17%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Seattle</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 50%; float: right;">-17%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Louisville Metro</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 44%; float: right;">-15%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Lexington</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 43%; float: right;">-14%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Portland</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 40%; float: right;">-13%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Durham</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 39%; float: right;">-13%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Austin</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 34%; float: right;">-11%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Raleigh</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 32%; float: right;">-11%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Newark</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 32%; float: right;">-11%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Milwaukee</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 24%; float: right;">-8%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Buffalo</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 24%; float: right;">-8%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Stockton</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 23%; float: right;">-8%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">San Francisco</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 21%; float: right;">-7%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Washington</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 21%; float: right;">-7%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Anaheim</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 20%; float: right;">-7%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Oakland</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 19%; float: right;">-6%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Long Beach</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 18%; float: right;">-6%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">St. Louis</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 17%; float: right;">-6%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Virginia Beach</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 70%;">
<div style="background: red; width: 16%; float: right;">-5%</div>
</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Fresno</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
In Durham, North Carolina, the number of sworn officers decreased 13%. In 2020, Mayor Pro Tempore Jillian Johnson said &#8220;police were established as a white supremacist institution, that they were created to police black people and protect white property.&#8221;
&#8220;Our best chance for building a safety solution that puts people first, that puts communities first, that takes care of people rather than criminalizes, incarcerates and punishes them is by shifting resources that we use for policing into other systems,&#8221; she told <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/06/06/871520133/durham-mayor-pro-tempore-on-defunding-the-police-in-her-city" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NPR</a>.
Calls to &#8220;defund the police&#8221; became popular with Democratic politicians in 2020, but became a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-defund-the-police-became-a-suicide-pact" target="_blank" rel="noopener">political liability</a> in the ensuing years after crime became a constant thorn in the side of many residents.
The mayor of San Francisco dramatically <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sf-democrat-mayor-london-breed-after-backing-defunding-police-reverses-need-aggressive-policing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reversed course</a>, condemning lawbreakers and calling for increased policing.
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), a top House Democrat, told <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-house-democrat-shuts-down-defund-the-police-movement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a> in June 2020 that &#8220;nobody is going to defund the police.&#8221;

A counterprotester holding a Defund Police sign at the

Blue Vs. Red: Major Cities’ Police Forces Are At Record Lows As Dems Deny Defunding The Police

Urban Police Departments At Record Lows Even As Dems Deny ‘Defunding The Police’

George Floyd

Law Enforcement

Texas

Police officers in Northern <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california">California</a> believe they prevented another murder after arresting a &#8216;potential serial killer&#8217; Saturday suspected of murdering six men and wounding a woman over the last 18 months in a string of late-night shootings.
Wesley Brownlee, 43, of Stockton, was arrested on homicide allegations, according to Stockton Police Department officials.
During a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhdp8jjQzxo">news conference</a>, Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden said officers arrested Brownlee in two parts: community tips and &#8220;good old-fashioned police work.&#8221;
&#8220;Based on tips coming to the department&#8217;s Stockton Crimestoppers, were we able to zero in on a possible suspect,&#8221; McFadden said. &#8220;Our surveillance team followed this person while he was driving &#8230; watched his pattern and determined early this morning.&#8221;
&#8220;He was on a mission to kill,&#8221; McFadden added.
McFadden said officers took the dark-clothed suspect — who was carrying a firearm and wearing a mask draped around his neck — into custody after making contact around 2 a.m. on Saturday. After following the suspect drive around parks and other dark places where he would stop and look around before moving again, authorities &#8220;identified that he&#8217;s posing a threat.&#8221;
&#8220;He was out hunting,&#8221; McFadden said. &#8220;We are sure we stopped another killing.&#8221;
San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar echoed the police chief&#8217;s sentiments saying, &#8220;the crime was solved because we&#8217;re Stocktonians.&#8221;
&#8220;Because you don&#8217;t come to our house and bring this kind of reign of terror and not mobilize 350,000 people — 780,000, this whole entire county — mobilized, mobilized and captured this individual whose reign of terror is no longer,&#8221; Salazar said.
Authorities suspect Brownlee — who has a &#8216;criminal history — of allegedly murdering six people and wounding a woman as far as April 2021. While two of the seven homicides happened last year, the remaining shootings happened between July and September.
Most of the deadly shootings happened in Stockton within a four-mile radius of one another, according to <a href="https://www.kcra.com/article/suspected-stockton-serial-killer-arrested-while-out-hunting-police-chief-says/41631651#">KCRA</a>.
According to the local media, public records show Brownlee had drug and traffic violations — including a DUI — in Arizona and California.
McFadden told CNN that all seven victims were &#8220;alone, often caught off guard, or maybe relaxing in a vehicle or walking alone in almost pitch darkness&#8221; when attacked in the evening or early morning.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/16/us/stockton-serial-killings-suspect-sunday">reports</a> that according to jail records, Brownlee was being held in the county jail on Saturday without bail and that authorities confirmed he would be arraigned in court Tuesday afternoon.
&#8220;Just because an arrest was made does not mean the investigation stops,&#8221; McFadden said, later adding, &#8220;the work is not done, though, as this is still a very active investigation.&#8221;
Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln said public safety in the city is their number one priority.
&#8220;I want to make this very very clear, to the people of Stockton, to the United States and around the world. When the people of Stockton come together and we unite we can get things done,&#8221; Lincoln said. Stockton will be a place where people can live, raise a family and grow a business.&#8221;
ABC <a href="https://www.abc10.com/article/news/crime/stockton-crime-gun-violence/103-08407b6d-d452-498e-9700-84ede3ad2d5f">reported</a> in August that Stockton had seen 34 homicides in 2022 — an increase from the 26 homicides it saw last year.
Stockton Police Officers Association (SPOA) told the media outlet that the rise in crime is directly connected to fewer uniformed officers on the streets.
&#8220;With a shortage of over 100 officers, almost 20% of our staffing not here any longer and leaving more by the day, it&#8217;s emboldened the criminal element because they don&#8217;t see those uniform patrol officers on the street. They don&#8217;t see as many police officers out there,&#8221; said Patrick High, president of the SPOA.

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