Truthout
Defund Police
![Police officer in green dollar bill engraving style with swirl of red and blue](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2023/08/2023_0901-defund-police-400x300.jpg)
Did Defunding Police Cause Oakland’s “Crime Wave”? Here’s What Really Happened.
Media and politicians call the defund police movement a failure, but it hasn’t been tried.
![a protester holds up a sign reading "THIS IS NOT LIBERTY; THIS IS DEATH" while facing a line of cops](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2023/08/2023_0830-penn-police-400x300.jpg)
When Police Killed a Trans Woman, Small Town Officials Scrambled to Protect Them
Officials have refused to release body-worn camera footage and tried to stop circulation of a watchdog newspaper.
![Activists protest the New York Police Department's Broken Windows policy outside the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association offices on January 16, 2015, in New York City.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2023/05/2023_0602-broken-windows-400x300.jpg)
As “Tough on Crime” Messaging Loses Appeal, Will Progressives Seize the Opening?
It’s time to replace the police, prosecutions and prisons with repair and restoration.
![Police surround a car driven by a member of a car brigade at a racial justice protest on November 3, 2020 in Seattle, Washington.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2023/05/GettyImages-1229449475-400x300.jpg)
DOJ Intervention Didn’t Stop Seattle’s Police Violence. It Gave Cops More Money.
Seattle learned the hard way that federal oversight via “consent decrees” mainly served to increase police budgets.
![Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol on January 26, 2023 in Washington, D.C.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2023/04/2023_04-20-ocasio-cortez-speaks-400x300.jpg)
Ocasio-Cortez: NYC’s New Police Contract Makes Cops Rich by Defunding Schools
The lawmaker said that crime can actually be reduced by funding public programs that support communities.
![A man pays his respects and kneels in front of a mural of George Floyd in Houston, Texas, on June 8, 2020.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/11/2022_1129-floyd-mural-400x300.jpg)
The 2020 BLM Uprising Lives On in Houston’s Struggle Against Police Violence
Against the growing and deadly profile of the far right, a BLM campaign in Houston is showing where we go from here.
![Community members and organizers submit petition signatures to the board of elections in downtown Chicago, Illinois, on August 8, 2022.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/11/2022_1118-treatment-1-400x300.jpg)
Chicago Votes in Favor of Removing Police From Mental Health Crisis Response
The response to the referendum was a victory for organizers who have fought to get police out of mental health.
![A crowd of John Fetterman supporters wave his banners in the air in celebration of his electoral victory](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/11/2022_1109-fetterman-rally-400x300.jpg)
The Right Did Worse Than Expected, But That Shouldn’t Satisfy Progressives
Organizing efforts paid off in the midterms, but the left’s work isn’t over yet.
![A New York City police officer patrols Times Square in Manhattan in November, 1999.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/09/2022_0913-police-times-square-400x300.jpg)
Law-and-Order Policies Make Us Less Safe. The Trajectory of the ’90s Shows Why.
Across the U.S., Democratic politicians are embracing playbooks that put mass incarceration into overdrive in the ‘90s.
![President Joe Biden participates in a Gun Violence Strategies Partnership meeting at the NYPD Headquarters in New York City, on February 3, 2022.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/09/2022_0902-biden-police-400x300.jpg)
Biden Is Still Issuing Calls to Increase Police Funding
Racial justice advocates say both parties are exploiting “defund the police” for political gain.