The 'defund the police' movement was one of the most catastrophic policy experiments in recent American history, and the people who paid the price were overwhelmingly in the communities the movement claimed to help.

In the two years following the George Floyd protests and subsequent police defunding efforts, murders surged across American cities. Minneapolis, the epicenter, saw murders increase 72% from 2019 to 2021. Portland, which cut $15 million from police, saw homicides reach a 30-year high. Austin cut its police budget by one-third and murders increased 79%. Nationwide, the FBI reported a historic 30% increase in murders in 2020.

The victims were disproportionately Black. In Chicago, 78% of 2020 murder victims were Black. In Philadelphia, the figure was 84%. In New York City, 95% of shooting victims were Black or Hispanic. Defunding police didn't hurt wealthy white neighborhoods — they hired private security. It devastated the communities that needed police protection most.

Black Americans themselves overwhelmingly rejected defunding. A 2021 Gallup poll found that 81% of Black Americans wanted the same or more police presence in their neighborhoods. Only 19% wanted less. A USA Today/Ipsos poll found similar results. The loudest voices calling for defunding were overwhelmingly white progressives and activists, not the Black residents of high-crime neighborhoods.

The theory behind defunding — that social workers and community programs can replace police — ignores reality. When someone is being robbed, assaulted, or shot, they need armed officers who can respond in minutes, not a therapist who can schedule an appointment.

Smart policing reform is worth pursuing: better training, accountability for misconduct, community policing strategies, and mental health co-responder programs. But gutting police departments was a disaster that got thousands of additional people killed.