(The Center Square) – More than three years after the murder of George Floyd sparked a movement to defund police departments, Chicago is on track to spend a record $2 billion on the city’s police department in 2024.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, who was sworn in earlier this year, was one of the many to advocate for defunding the police in 2020 after Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, saying “I don’t look at it as a slogan” and adding, “It’s an actual political goal,” during a podcast.
In Johnson’s first budget after he was elected in April 2023, the city proposed maintaining staffing at 14,137 full-time positions while increasing funding to the police department by 5% to $1.99 billion.
In 2020 when Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis set off a nationwide movement to take resources away from police, the Chicago Police Department had 14,709 full-time positions budgeted and spent $1.76 billion.
The city reduced the police department by 614 positions and cut funding by 2.7% in 2021 in the immediate aftermath of Floyd’s murder. Since then, the department has grown in size and spending.
While the city maintained staffing levels for 2024 at the same level as the previous year, the city reported a 30% increase in crime in 2022. Murders were down 13% from 804 in 2021 to 699 in 2022, but the city stated property crime drove the spike in crime and was up 44% and violent crime was up 1% in 2022 as compared to 2021.
Johnson didn’t respond to an attempt to get a comment from him on police staffing levels and spending. But on the campaign trail in 2023, Johnson said he wanted to increase police staffing, according to NBC Chicago.
The Chicago Democratic Socialists of America party has run a campaign to defund the city’s police department. It didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
