NEW YORK- Yesterday, Mayor Adams’ Office of Management and Budget announced that the NYPD, one of the city’s largest agencies, will miss the savings goals the mayor promised to New Yorkers by 60 percent. The following response is from Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) spokesperson Keli Young (she/her), Civil Rights Campaign Coordinator at VOCAL-NY:
“The November Financial Plan released yesterday is another example of how the Mayor’s approach to city budgeting is misguided and fails to address key city issues while allowing NYPD budget bloat.
"City agencies and programs are already struggling to meet the needs of homeless New Yorkers, or support New Yorkers living with mental health issues. Schools are struggling to fill the gaps left by the Mayor’s summer budget cuts, and all city agencies are struggling to function effectively because crucial positions have been left unfilled. The November Financial Plan was an opportunity to address these key concerns, but instead, the Mayor called for 3% cuts across all city agencies. While the Mayor originally stated that the NYPD would be treated like other agencies, the November Plan only includes a 1.2% cut to the NYPD, which is 60% lower than the cuts made to other key agencies that provide crucial services like education and social services to New Yorkers.
"This is the kind of budget impunity that we see over and over again with the NYPD and has resulted in one of the largest police budgets in the country. The Mayor continues to refuse to curb NYPD budget bloat or hold the NYPD to the same standards as other agencies, despite being one of the city's largest areas of spending.
"We cannot continue to invest in policing while making cuts to school funding, mental health services, housing and homeless services and other crucial city services. The safest communities are the ones with the most resources, not the most police. The Mayor’s city budgeting continues to cut New Yorkers access to resources while increasing policing and this approach will not make our cities safer.”
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About Communities United for Police Reform
Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) is an unprecedented campaign to end discriminatory policing practices in New York, and to build a lasting movement that promotes public safety and reduces reliance on policing. CPR runs coalitions of over 200 local, statewide and national organizations, bringing together a movement of community members, lawyers, researchers and activists to work for change. The partners in this campaign come from all 5 boroughs, from all walks of life and represent many of those most unfairly targeted by the NYPD.