$1 Billion Cut From NYPD Budget: “People Need to Be Reached, Not Policed”

In a stunning capitulation to the Black Lives Matter protesters, New York City Democrats decided on Tuesday to slash the NYPD’s budget by $1 billion, shifting that money over to vague programs that will focus on youth and community development.

“The Council fought hard to get where we are, but I know this is just a starting point, not an ending point,” said city council speaker Corey Johnson. “We need to go farther. To the thousands of New Yorkers who so admirably fought for budget justice over the past several weeks: we heard you and we stand with you. We recognize that the city must move away from failed racist policing policies of the past.”

At a press conference on Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said of the new budget: “We must always have safety and we will in this city, but we are also going to amplify both safety and fairness by reaching our young people more deeply than ever before. And that’s what this budget is all about.”

The reigning socialist fool of the Big Apple went on to describe how the changes would work. Instead of spending money on improving the police force, the city is going to cancel a 1,200-person recruitment course designed to attract new officers, it will divest school safety, crossing guardianship, and homeless outreach from the responsibilities of the NYPD, and the city will slash overtime spending.

“We’re acting on that call for justice,” he said.  “I believe it is our mission to redistribute resources to those who need them the most.”

Though the budget cuts will have an eminently predictable impact on crime rates in the city, at least de Blasio and friends can bask in the warm glow of appreciation from Black Lives Matter activists and their allies, right?

Nope.

“Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math,” raged Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter.

“We are being gaslit,” said activist Jawanza James Williams, currently camping outside City Hall. “This movement is about so much more than the $1 billion, and this means they don’t understand what we’re saying.”

Yet another lesson in what happens when you try to appease the illogical mob. You’d think that elected officials would have learned this simple fact by now, but then, no one ever accused Democratic politicians of being quick on the uptake.

“We need to think differently about how we support young people in this city. We’ve made a lot of changes before but we need to go a lot farther,” de Blasio pandered. “The NYPD is going to refocus on helping young people. Our young people need to be reached, not policed, reached.”

Yeah. Let us know how that works out for you.