NORFOLK, Va. — It’s a message written out on a street in the nation’s capital: “Defund The Police.”
Its meaning is pretty clear. People who support defunding the police, want to take money away from the department in its respective city's annual budget and spend it elsewhere, such as on social services, schools, housing, or healthcare.
It doesn’t necessarily mean disbanding the police, but some members of the Minneapolis city council said they want to dismantle their police force and rebuild it.
Norfolk Chief Larry Boone said he thinks that’s a step too far, but he’s not entirely against defunding certain parts of the force.
“If you do away with your police department, what takes its place?” Boone asked. “If we were to defund anything in Norfolk, what I would like to see… minimizing our contact with homelessness, those going through a mental psychosis, and substance abuse.”
Boone said officers who respond to such situations can be better deployed elsewhere and he suggested such responses can escalate.
"We aren’t thinking clearly... when we send badges and guns to those types of situations because you never know what could potentially happen,” Boone said.
City budgets are approved every year by city council. So let’s take a look at how much cities are spending on police departments, here in Hampton Roads.
In Norfolk's Complete Adopted Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Document, nearly 14% of General Fund Expenditure - or nearly $125 million - is for public safety. The police department spends about $77 million.
In Virginia Beach's Fiscal Year 2021 Budget, of its more than $2.1 billion budget, about 12% of that money is going to public safety. Planning and Public Works and Utilities takes 13%, and Education takes 45%.
According to Hampton's Fiscal Year 2020 Council Approved Budget, about 10 cents of every dollar goes to public safety. Education is number one. Nearly half of the public safety budget goes to police. The Hampton Police Division has a budget of almost $25 million.
According to a budget presentation for Suffolk's Proposed Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Operating & Capital Budget, for every tax dollar in the general fund, 29 cents goes to public safety. Like the other two cities, it’s the second-highest after education. The total operating expenditure for the police department is around $25 million.
In Chesapeake's Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Proposed Operating Budget, of its more than $1.1 billion budget, about 15 percent of that money is for public safety. The police department gets around $62 million.
According to its Adopted Fiscal Year 2020 Budget, 17% of Newport News’ General Fund Expenditure goes to public safety, about $86 million. It’s the second-highest after schools. The police department’s general fund is about $50 million.
In Portsmouth's 2020 Adopted Budget, it says 25% of General Fund Expenditure goes to public safety: about $62 million.
Defunding police is not a new concept but it has come to the forefront in recent weeks amid widespread demonstrations against police brutality.