Elected officials and local organizations demand cuts to NYPD budget
Two of the four men who say they were arrested at an NYPD budget protest three weeks ago allege that members of the NYPD were aggressive during the arrests.
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Community organizations and elected officials are calling on the mayor’s office to cut funding from the NYPD and use it for other resources.
Just over $5.4 billion of the city’s $106.6 billion budget is being set aside for the police department.
Protesters took to the streets three weeks ago to call for budget cuts to the NYPD, and organizers say that four people were arrested leaving the rally at Foley Square.
“The city did not become a safer place because of my arrest,” said Lorenzo Van Ness, one of the four people arrested and a member of the Justice Committee.
Van Ness and Matero Gurrero, a member of Make The Road NY who was also arrested during that protest, say that the NYPD’s Strategic Response Unit were aggressive when they followed and arrested the protesters.
“They were out saying ‘no more police violence’ and were immediately met with… police violence,” said Queens Councilmember Tiffany Caban.
The Strategic Response Unit falls under the NYPD’s Special Operations division, which could see over $156 million alone.
MORE: NYPD Fiscal Budget Report
Numbers from the proposed budget show the NYPD would get less funding in next year’s budget than they received for the 2023 fiscal year.
