Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is offering a breakdown on the ideology of defunding the police, saying that it has nothing to do with eliminating police departments, altogether.
During an interview on “Good Morning America” Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez explained how defunding relates more to the redistribution of local government funds and an initiative to scale down police departments. The focus would be on prioritizing budgets.
“What a lot of folks are talking about, when it comes into this movement, is that they’re asking for the same budget priorities that many affluent suburbs already have,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
She added, “And it may sound strange, but many affluent suburbs have essentially already begun pursuing a defunding of the police in that they fund schools, they fund housing, and they fund healthcare more as their No. 1 priorities.”
See Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks below:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks out in an @ABC News exclusive interview about President Donald Trump’s tweet about a protester and why she supports calls to defund police.@AOC@GStephanopoulos https://t.co/219hrZ1V84 pic.twitter.com/J9lnK5o5le
— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 10, 2020
She discussed the notion of resources. Due to the idea of redistributing funds, there is a belief that resources must be better distributed due to some form of lack.
According to Ocasio-Cortez, that is not the issue, but rather the opposite — a lack of resources being put into the proper areas.
Using her own Bronx district in New York as an example, she noted that the NYPD has a $6 billion annual budget which equates to more than the city spends on “youth, housing, healthcare, and homelessness combined in New York City.”
“The problem is not a lack of resources here,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
She went on to explain why prioritizing funding would make a long-term difference in local communities.
She continued, “In fact, many folks here in our community say that the problem is the opposite, is that not enough resources are being put into the very kinds of social programming and investments that prevent crime and social discord in the first place.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s latest remarks folow similar comments from Congressional Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).
While Democrats and Republicans both agree police reform is needed, Democratic leaders are trying to make their message very clear.
“Reform policing in this country,” said Clyburn, as previously reported on IJR. “We need to reform policing.”
Pelosi also noted that their goal is to re-evaluate funding for police departments while working to implement policies and systems that hold officers accountable for their actions.