Is Defunding Police Even In High Crime-Rate States And Cities Answer To Racial Unrest In America?

On May 25, Minneapolis bore witness to the murder of George Floyd by a police officer that lead to widespread protests against police brutality and racial injustice in the U.S., followed by nationwide riots and looting. And now, radical left-wing groups like Antifa and Black Lives Matter are demanding the US government to “defund the police,” going as far as to demand their complete elimination.

But the question is whether defunding the police force really the answer and what would be its ramifications in U.S. states and cities with high per-capita crime rates.

Per capita, California spends $48.83 on police protection expenditures, Washington state is at $62.47, Pennsylvania spends $89.91, New York spends $54.46, and Illinois $39.96, which brings the U.S. 50-state per-capita average to $62.56. It matches the per-capita murder rates in the states and the cities, like in 2018, Washington witnessed 22.78 percent murder ration per Philadelphia (22.12), Chicago (20.7), Indianapolis (18.46), and Jacksonville (12.18).

The top five cities for the highest per-capita violent crime were Indianapolis, Houston, Chicago, Washington, and Philadelphia at 1,272, 1,026, 1,006, 941 and 909 per 100,000.

While California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, has rejected the idea of removing the police forces completely, he expressed his willingness to incorporate some major changes in government spending.

“If you’re calling for eliminating police, no,” Newsom told on June 9 to a group of black business officials.

“If you’re talking about reimagining and taking the opportunity to look at the responsibility and role that we place on law enforcement to be social workers, mental health workers, get involved in disputes where a badge and a gun are unnecessary, then I think absolutely this is an opportunity to look at all of the above,” he added.

While Los Angeles has a per-capita crime rate that is equal to the U.S. average, the Los Angeles mayor, Eric Garcetti has bowed to the riots and defunding demands and agreed to slash $150 million from the city police budget which is currently $1.9 billion.

But like Newsom, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio declared that “for those who say defund the police, I would say that is not the way forward,” followed by the New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has also opposed defunding the police, given the riots and looting that followed the protests in New York.

“It was frightening. … [When there are] no police, you get looting. That’s what you get. Nobody wants that,” he said.