The Truth About “Defunding the Police”: What It Actually Means and Why They Don’t Want You to Understand It
One of the most successful right-wing propaganda campaigns in recent years has been the distortion of the phrase “Defund the Police.”
To many Americans, the phrase has been intentionally misrepresented to sound like abolishing law enforcement entirely, creating lawless chaos, and allowing criminals to roam free.
That is not what it means.
Defunding the police is not about eliminating public safety—it is about reimagining it.
It is about recognizing that billions of dollars are funneled into bloated police budgets while communities lack basic services like healthcare, housing, and mental health care.
It is about understanding that police are used as a catch-all response to social issues they are neither trained nor equipped to handle.
It is about shifting resources toward solutions that actually prevent crime instead of relying on endless punishment.
But the people in power do not want the public to understand this. Because once you do, the entire justification for modern policing starts to fall apart.
How Much Money Goes to Police? A Look at the NYPD
The NYPD is the largest and most well-funded police force in the country. And its budget is bigger than most nations’ militaries.
In 2023, the NYPD had a budget of $10.9 billion—more than the entire military budgets of 142 countries.
The NYPD’s budget is larger than New York City’s Departments of Health, Homeless Services, and Youth Services combined.
Even with crime decreasing in certain categories, the NYPD continues to receive more money every year.
Meanwhile, essential public services are chronically underfunded.
NYC’s public hospitals, which serve the poorest communities, face budget cuts year after year.
Affordable housing projects remain stalled due to “lack of funds.”
Social workers, mental health crisis teams, and violence prevention programs struggle to stay afloat.
Why is it that there is never enough money for these things, yet billions are available for police militarization, surveillance tech, and overtime pay?
Because policing isn’t about keeping people safe. It’s about maintaining control.
What “Defunding the Police” Actually Means
When activists say “Defund the Police,” they do not mean eliminating all law enforcement.
They mean reallocating excessive police funding toward resources that actually reduce crime.
1. Invest in Mental Health and Crisis Response Teams
At least 1 in 4 people killed by police have mental illnesses.
Police are not mental health professionals, yet they are the default response to mental health crises.
Cities like Denver have piloted non-police crisis response teams, reducing violent interactions and saving money.
2. Fund Affordable Housing and Homeless Services
Instead of spending billions criminalizing homelessness, invest in long-term housing solutions.
Studies show that providing stable housing dramatically reduces crime and repeat offenses.
Many people arrested for “quality of life” crimes are homeless individuals in need of services, not punishment.
3. Expand Violence Interruption Programs
Community-led programs have successfully reduced gun violence in multiple cities.
These programs operate at a fraction of the cost of heavy policing and have been proven to be more effective.
But because they do not involve control, surveillance, and force, they are underfunded.
4. End the Police Militarization Pipeline
Since 1997, the Pentagon has transferred over $7 billion in military-grade equipment to U.S. police departments.
Police forces now have tanks, grenade launchers, and high-powered rifles—despite the fact that crime rates have been falling for decades.
Defunding the police means stopping the flow of military weapons into civilian law enforcement.
The Police Are Not Preventing Crime—They Are Responding to It
The entire argument for massive police budgets is built on the idea that more cops equal less crime.
This is a lie.
Studies have shown that social services, not police, are the most effective way to prevent crime.
Police do not prevent poverty, lack of education, or mental health crises—three of the biggest drivers of crime.
Most police work is not about stopping violent crime—it’s about enforcing laws that criminalize poverty, addiction, and homelessness.
The truth is, police are not designed to reduce crime—they are designed to manage and contain certain populations.
And that is why cities invest more in policing than they do in the actual root causes of crime.
Because fixing the problem would eliminate the need for control.
Why They Want You to Believe Defunding the Police is Dangerous
The biggest threat to the police-industrial complex is the realization that we do not need them in the way we have been told we do.
So, the moment the conversation about defunding the police gained national traction, the backlash was swift.
Right-wing media launched a propaganda campaign equating “Defund the Police” with total anarchy.
Politicians, even Democrats, backed away from the phrase due to fear-mongering.
Corporate media focused only on crime statistics, ignoring the actual policies behind defunding.
The goal was simple: make people too scared to question the police’s role in society.
And for many Americans, it worked.
The Real Reason the Police Keep Getting More Funding
Crime has always been the excuse for expanding police budgets. But the truth is:
More police do not make communities safer—investments in education, jobs, and healthcare do.
Police unions and lobbyists have enormous influence over politicians, ensuring endless funding increases.
The fear of crime is more politically useful than the reality of crime.
Because fear keeps people compliant.
And the biggest threat to power is a population that realizes they don’t need armed enforcers to control them.
Final Thoughts: Reimagining Public Safety
“Defunding the police” was never about creating lawlessness. It was about rethinking the way we keep people safe.
It was about asking:
Why do we pay cops to handle problems that social workers and medical professionals are better equipped for?
Why do cities always have money for new police equipment but not for education and healthcare?
Why do we use armed force to manage poverty and addiction instead of solving those problems at the root?
The truth is, the police are not as necessary as we’ve been told.
And that is exactly why the people in power will do everything possible to make sure you never realize it.
Source List
New York City Budget – NYPD Budget Breakdown
https://www.nyc.gov/html/omb/downloads/pdf/exec23_r.pdfBrookings Institution – What “Defund the Police” Actually Means
https://www.brookings.edu/research/defund-the-police-meaningPew Research Center – Crime Trends vs. Police Budgets
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/06/10/police-budgets-vs-crime-dataThe Atlantic – Why Policing in America is Fundamentally Broken
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/01/policing-in-america-brokenThe Guardian – The Military-Police Pipeline and the $7 Billion War Machine
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/20/military-weapons-police-fundingHarvard Kennedy School – The Effectiveness of Alternative Crime Reduction Strategies
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/research/crime-reduction-alternativesRolling Stone – The Propaganda War Against “Defund the Police”
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/defund-the-police-propaganda
Defunding the police is not about making communities unsafe. It is about questioning why those in power want us to believe that only force can keep us safe.
