“New York is saving $ 1 billion on police” | Abroad

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said the budget of the New York City police has been cut from about $ 6 billion to about $ 5 billion. As a result of the cutbacks, plans to hire 1160 new agents, among other things, are canceled. The police must also spend less money on overtime and employees with administrative tasks are deployed differently. The New York police consists of approximately 36,000 officers.

However, some city councilors speak of an accounting trick. For example, 400 million in savings would still go to the police, but then through the education department because the costs for securing schools will be transferred to that department. “The budget that will be voted on tonight will NOT cut $ 1 billion from the police,” city council member Brad Lancer said on Twitter on Tuesday.

Over the past month, the Black Lives Matter movement has repeatedly advocated taking money from the police and putting it into housing, education and health care for disadvantaged areas. Protesters camped outside New York City Hall last week demanded that money be transferred from America’s largest police force to address racial inequality.

New York’s annual budget is reduced from $ 93 billion to $ 88 billion because of the corona crisis. Mayor De Blasio recently estimated that the pandemic, which killed some 22,000 New Yorkers, cost the city about 9 billion.

President Donald Trump says on Twitter that he is not happy with the cutbacks on the New York police. He is also upset that De Blasio is giving permission to have the words Black Lives Matter written in large yellow letters on the posh Fifth Avenue shopping street, practically on the sidewalk of Trump Tower in Manhattan.

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